Why Americans Still Don T Vote

Why Americans Still Don T Vote Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Why Americans Still Don T Vote book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.

Why Americans Still Don't Vote

Author : Frances Fox Piven
Publisher : Beacon Press
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2000-09-22
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0807004499

Get Book

Why Americans Still Don't Vote by Frances Fox Piven Pdf

Americans take for granted that ours is the very model of a democracy. At the core of this belief is the assumption that the right to vote is firmly established. But in fact, the United States is the only major democratic nation in which the less well-off, the young, and minorities are substantially underrepresented in the electorate. Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward were key players in the long battle to reform voter registration laws that finally resulted in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (also known as the Motor Voter law). When Why Americans Don't Vote was first published in 1988, this battle was still raging, and their book was a fiery salvo. It demonstrated that the twentieth century had witnessed a concerted effort to restrict voting by immigrants and blacks through a combination of poll taxes, literacy tests, and unwieldy voter registration requirements. Why Americans Still Don't Vote brings the story up to the present. Analyzing the results of voter registration reform, and drawing compelling historical parallels, Piven and Cloward reveal why neither of the major parties has tried to appeal to the interests of the newly registered-and thus why Americans still don't vote.

Why Americans Don't Vote

Author : Frances Fox Piven,Richard A. Cloward
Publisher : New York : Pantheon Books
Page : 325 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Poor
ISBN : 0394755499

Get Book

Why Americans Don't Vote by Frances Fox Piven,Richard A. Cloward Pdf

Examines personal voter registration, describes its supporters, and what is needed to maintain an active electorate.

The Forgotten Americans

Author : Isabel Sawhill
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2018-01-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780300230369

Get Book

The Forgotten Americans by Isabel Sawhill Pdf

A sobering account of a disenfranchised American working class and important policy solutions to the nation's economic inequalities One of the country's leading scholars on economics and social policy, Isabel Sawhill addresses the enormous divisions in American society--economic, cultural, and political--and what might be done to bridge them. Widening inequality and the loss of jobs to trade and technology has left a significant portion of the American workforce disenfranchised and skeptical of governments and corporations alike. And yet both have a role to play in improving the country for all. Sawhill argues for a policy agenda based on mainstream values, such as family, education, and work. Although many have lost faith in government programs designed to help them, there are still trusted institutions on both the local and the federal level that can deliver better job opportunities and higher wages to those who have been left behind. At the same time, the private sector needs to reexamine how it trains and rewards employees. This book provides a clear-headed and middle-way path to a better-functioning society in which personal responsibility is honored and inclusive capitalism and more broadly shared growth are once more the norm.

Making Young Voters

Author : John B. Holbein,D. Sunshine Hillygus
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 283 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2020-02-20
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781108488426

Get Book

Making Young Voters by John B. Holbein,D. Sunshine Hillygus Pdf

The solution to youth voter turnout requires focus on helping young people follow through on their political interests and intentions.

Why Don't Americans Vote?

Author : Bridgett A. King,Kathleen Hale
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 327 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2016-07-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9798216165170

Get Book

Why Don't Americans Vote? by Bridgett A. King,Kathleen Hale Pdf

This timely book provides a thought-provoking discussion of issues that influence voter registration and turnout in contemporary America. Elections not only determine who will fill an office; they have a lot to say about how the democratic process works—or doesn't work—in 21st-century America. This fascinating book sheds light on that question by focusing on factors that currently shape elections and political participation in the United States. It covers issues that are consistently in the media, such as gerrymandering; voter ID; and rules pertaining to when, where, and how Americans register and vote. But it also goes beyond the obvious to consider issues that are often overlooked—civic education and engagement, citizen apathy, and political alienation, for example. The volume begins with an introduction to elections that includes a discussion of the history of voting in the United States. Each subsequent chapter covers a different topic relative to registration and voting. It addresses matters of education as well as socialization, mobilization, and the legal and political structures that shape U.S. political participation. Ideal for readers who may be considering such concerns for the first time, the work will foster an understanding of why political participation is important and of the causes and consequences of non-voting.

Votes That Count and Voters Who Don’t

Author : Sharon E. Jarvis,Soo-Hye Han
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 201 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2019-06-27
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780271082882

Get Book

Votes That Count and Voters Who Don’t by Sharon E. Jarvis,Soo-Hye Han Pdf

For decades, journalists have called the winners of U.S. presidential elections—often in error—well before the closing of the polls. In Votes That Count and Voters Who Don’t, Sharon E. Jarvis and Soo-Hye Han investigate what motivates journalists to call elections before the votes have been tallied and, more importantly, what this and similar practices signal to the electorate about the value of voter participation. Jarvis and Han track how journalists have told the story of electoral participation during the last eighteen presidential elections, revealing how the portrayal of voters in the popular press has evolved over the last half century from that of mobilized partisan actors vital to electoral outcomes to that of pawns of political elites and captives of a flawed electoral system. The authors engage with experiments and focus groups to reveal the effects that these portrayals have on voters and share their findings in interviews with prominent journalists. Votes That Count and Voters Who Don’t not only explores the failings of the media but also shows how the story of electoral participation might be told in ways that support both democratic and journalistic values. At a time when professional strategists are pressuring journalists to provide favorable coverage for their causes and candidates, this book invites academics, organizations, the press, and citizens alike to advocate for the voter’s place in the news.

Who Votes Now?

Author : Jan E. Leighley,Jonathan Nagler
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2013-11-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781400848621

Get Book

Who Votes Now? by Jan E. Leighley,Jonathan Nagler Pdf

Who Votes Now? compares the demographic characteristics and political views of voters and nonvoters in American presidential elections since 1972 and examines how electoral reforms and the choices offered by candidates influence voter turnout. Drawing on a wealth of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and the American National Election Studies, Jan Leighley and Jonathan Nagler demonstrate that the rich have consistently voted more than the poor for the past four decades, and that voters are substantially more conservative in their economic views than nonvoters. They find that women are now more likely to vote than men, that the gap in voting rates between blacks and whites has largely disappeared, and that older Americans continue to vote more than younger Americans. Leighley and Nagler also show how electoral reforms such as Election Day voter registration and absentee voting have boosted voter turnout, and how turnout would also rise if parties offered more distinct choices. Providing the most systematic analysis available of modern voter turnout, Who Votes Now? reveals that persistent class bias in turnout has enduring political consequences, and that it really does matter who votes and who doesn't.

The Virgin Vote

Author : Jon Grinspan
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2016-02-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781469627359

Get Book

The Virgin Vote by Jon Grinspan Pdf

There was a time when young people were the most passionate participants in American democracy. In the second half of the nineteenth century--as voter turnout reached unprecedented peaks--young people led the way, hollering, fighting, and flirting at massive midnight rallies. Parents trained their children to be "violent little partisans," while politicians lobbied twenty-one-year-olds for their "virgin votes"—the first ballot cast upon reaching adulthood. In schoolhouses, saloons, and squares, young men and women proved that democracy is social and politics is personal, earning their adulthood by participating in public life. Drawing on hundreds of diaries and letters of diverse young Americans--from barmaids to belles, sharecroppers to cowboys--this book explores how exuberant young people and scheming party bosses relied on each other from the 1840s to the turn of the twentieth century. It also explains why this era ended so dramatically and asks if aspects of that strange period might be useful today. In a vivid evocation of this formative but forgotten world, Jon Grinspan recalls a time when struggling young citizens found identity and maturity in democracy.

Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?

Author : Alexander Keyssar
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 545 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2020-07-31
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780674974142

Get Book

Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? by Alexander Keyssar Pdf

A New Statesman Book of the Year “America’s greatest historian of democracy now offers an extraordinary history of the most bizarre aspect of our representative democracy—the electoral college...A brilliant contribution to a critical current debate.” —Lawrence Lessig, author of They Don’t Represent Us Every four years, millions of Americans wonder why they choose their presidents through an arcane institution that permits the loser of the popular vote to become president and narrows campaigns to swing states. Congress has tried on many occasions to alter or scuttle the Electoral College, and in this master class in American political history, a renowned Harvard professor explains its confounding persistence. After tracing the tangled origins of the Electoral College back to the Constitutional Convention, Alexander Keyssar outlines the constant stream of efforts since then to abolish or reform it. Why have they all failed? The complexity of the design and partisan one-upmanship have a lot to do with it, as do the difficulty of passing constitutional amendments and the South’s long history of restrictive voting laws. By revealing the reasons for past failures and showing how close we’ve come to abolishing the Electoral College, Keyssar offers encouragement to those hoping for change. “Conclusively demonstrates the absurdity of preserving an institution that has been so contentious throughout U.S. history and has not infrequently produced results that defied the popular will.” —Michael Kazin, The Nation “Rigorous and highly readable...shows how the electoral college has endured despite being reviled by statesmen from James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson to Edward Kennedy, Bob Dole, and Gerald Ford.” —Lawrence Douglas, Times Literary Supplement

Democracy for Realists

Author : Christopher H. Achen,Larry M. Bartels
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2017-08-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781400888740

Get Book

Democracy for Realists by Christopher H. Achen,Larry M. Bartels Pdf

Why our belief in government by the people is unrealistic—and what we can do about it Democracy for Realists assails the romantic folk-theory at the heart of contemporary thinking about democratic politics and government, and offers a provocative alternative view grounded in the actual human nature of democratic citizens. Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels deploy a wealth of social-scientific evidence, including ingenious original analyses of topics ranging from abortion politics and budget deficits to the Great Depression and shark attacks, to show that the familiar ideal of thoughtful citizens steering the ship of state from the voting booth is fundamentally misguided. They demonstrate that voters—even those who are well informed and politically engaged—mostly choose parties and candidates on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties, not political issues. They also show that voters adjust their policy views and even their perceptions of basic matters of fact to match those loyalties. When parties are roughly evenly matched, elections often turn on irrelevant or misleading considerations such as economic spurts or downturns beyond the incumbents' control; the outcomes are essentially random. Thus, voters do not control the course of public policy, even indirectly. Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Now with new analysis of the 2016 elections, Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government.

Securing the Vote

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Computer Science and Telecommunications Board,Policy and Global Affairs,Committee on Science, Technology, and Law,Committee on the Future of Voting: Accessible, Reliable, Verifiable Technology
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 181 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2018-09-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780309476478

Get Book

Securing the Vote by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Computer Science and Telecommunications Board,Policy and Global Affairs,Committee on Science, Technology, and Law,Committee on the Future of Voting: Accessible, Reliable, Verifiable Technology Pdf

During the 2016 presidential election, America's election infrastructure was targeted by actors sponsored by the Russian government. Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy examines the challenges arising out of the 2016 federal election, assesses current technology and standards for voting, and recommends steps that the federal government, state and local governments, election administrators, and vendors of voting technology should take to improve the security of election infrastructure. In doing so, the report provides a vision of voting that is more secure, accessible, reliable, and verifiable.

The Right to Vote

Author : Alexander Keyssar
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2009-06-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780465010141

Get Book

The Right to Vote by Alexander Keyssar Pdf

Originally published in 2000, The Right to Vote was widely hailed as a magisterial account of the evolution of suffrage from the American Revolution to the end of the twentieth century. In this revised and updated edition, Keyssar carries the story forward, from the disputed presidential contest of 2000 through the 2008 campaign and the election of Barack Obama. The Right to Vote is a sweeping reinterpretation of American political history as well as a meditation on the meaning of democracy in contemporary American life.

Against Democracy

Author : Jason Brennan
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2017-09-26
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781400888399

Get Book

Against Democracy by Jason Brennan Pdf

A bracingly provocative challenge to one of our most cherished ideas and institutions Most people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government. They believe people have the right to an equal share of political power. And they believe that political participation is good for us—it empowers us, helps us get what we want, and tends to make us smarter, more virtuous, and more caring for one another. These are some of our most cherished ideas about democracy. But Jason Brennan says they are all wrong. In this trenchant book, Brennan argues that democracy should be judged by its results—and the results are not good enough. Just as defendants have a right to a fair trial, citizens have a right to competent government. But democracy is the rule of the ignorant and the irrational, and it all too often falls short. Furthermore, no one has a fundamental right to any share of political power, and exercising political power does most of us little good. On the contrary, a wide range of social science research shows that political participation and democratic deliberation actually tend to make people worse—more irrational, biased, and mean. Given this grim picture, Brennan argues that a new system of government—epistocracy, the rule of the knowledgeable—may be better than democracy, and that it's time to experiment and find out. A challenging critique of democracy and the first sustained defense of the rule of the knowledgeable, Against Democracy is essential reading for scholars and students of politics across the disciplines. Featuring a new preface that situates the book within the current political climate and discusses other alternatives beyond epistocracy, Against Democracy is a challenging critique of democracy and the first sustained defense of the rule of the knowledgeable.

Democracy and Political Ignorance

Author : Ilya Somin
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2013-10-02
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780804789318

Get Book

Democracy and Political Ignorance by Ilya Somin Pdf

One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Often, many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This may be rational, but it creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know. In Democracy and Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin mines the depths of ignorance in America and reveals the extent to which it is a major problem for democracy. Somin weighs various options for solving this problem, arguing that political ignorance is best mitigated and its effects lessened by decentralizing and limiting government. Somin provocatively argues that people make better decisions when they choose what to purchase in the market or which state or local government to live under, than when they vote at the ballot box, because they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information and to use it wisely.

Keeping Down the Black Vote

Author : Frances Fox Piven,Lorraine Carol Minnite,Margaret Groarke
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Law
ISBN : STANFORD:36105131763125

Get Book

Keeping Down the Black Vote by Frances Fox Piven,Lorraine Carol Minnite,Margaret Groarke Pdf

"Keeping Down the Black Vote" offers a controversial examination of how the American political system works to suppress the vote--especially the votes of African Americans and minorities.