The Vanishing Voter

Author : Thomas E. Patterson
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307548678
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Vanishing Voter written by Thomas E. Patterson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2009-09-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the award-winning author of Out of Order—named the best political science book of the last decade by the American Political Science Association—comes this landmark book about why Americans don’t vote. Based on more than 80,000 interviews, The Vanishing Voter investigates why—despite a better educated citizenry, the end of racial barriers to voting, and simplified voter registration procedures—the percentage of voters has steadily decreased to the point that the United States now has nearly the lowest voting rate in the world. Patterson cites the blurring of differences between the political parties, the news media’s negative bias, and flaws in the election system to explain this disturbing trend while suggesting specific reforms intended to bring Americans back to the polls. Astute, far-reaching, and impeccably researched, The Vanishing Voter engages the very meaning of our relationship to our government.

Author : Ruy A. Teixeira
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 9780815723202
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.02/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Disappearing American Voter written by Ruy A. Teixeira and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy. To millions around the world who have fought for that right, it is considered a privilege. Yet the magnitude of nonvoting in America is staggering. More than 91 million Americans did not vote in 1988, putting voter turnout at barely half of the voting-age population. This situation has stirred much comment and debate across the political spectrum, raising several questions: Why is voter turnout generally so low? Why has it declined steadily over the past three decades? Does low and declining turnout significantly bias the nature of contemporary U.S. politics? And what, if anything, can be done to increase voter participation? In this book, Ruy Teixeira addresses each of these question in detail in an effort to provide policymakers and the general public with a clearer view of the problem and possible solutions. The author's interpretations and recommendations are both provocative and firmly based on currently available data. Teixeira includes an assessment of current registration reform legislation and shows why a combination of registration reform and political reform is necessary to fully reverse the nonvoting trend and move to substantially higher turnout levels. He points out that while it is unlikely U.S. voter turnout will ever approach levels in Sweden, Australia, and Belgium—which are about 90 percent—with a thorough reform program, levels of around 70 percent, such as those in Japan and Canada, may be attainable.

Author : Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674044959
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Where Have All the Voters Gone? written by Martin P. Wattenberg and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the confusion over the ballots in Florida in 2000 demonstrated, American elections are complex and anything but user-friendly. This phenomenon is by no means new, but with the weakening of political parties in recent decades and the rise of candidate-centered politics, the high level of complexity has become ever more difficult for many citizens to navigate. Thus the combination of complex elections and the steady decline of the party system has led to a decline in voter turnout. In this timely book, Martin Wattenberg confronts the question of what low participation rates mean for democracy. At the individual level, turnout decline has been highest among the types of people who most need to have electoral decisions simplified for them through a strong party system--those with the least education, political knowledge, and life experience. As Wattenberg shows, rather than lamenting how many Americans fail to exercise their democratic rights, we should be impressed with how many arrive at the polls in spite of a political system that asks more of a typical person than is reasonable. Meanwhile, we must find ways to make the American electoral process more user-friendly.

Author : Jerry F. Hough
Publisher : Algora Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0875864090
Total Pages : 642 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Changing Party Coalitions written by Jerry F. Hough and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the causes of the unnatural red-state/blue-state dichotomy in America, Hough, a professor of comparative politics, ponders the likely effects of the next economic crisis and what it will take to create new party coalitions.

Author : Alan Abramowitz
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 030016288X
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Disappearing Center written by Alan Abramowitz and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned political scientist Alan I. Abramowitz presents a groundbreaking argument that the most important divide in American politics is not between left and right but rather between citizens who are politically engaged and those who are not. It is the engaged members of the public, he argues, who most closely reflect the ideals of democratic citizenship--but this is also the group that is most polarized. Polarization at the highest levels of government, therefore, is not a sign of elites' disconnection from the public but rather of their responsiveness to the more politically engaged parts of it. Though polarization is often assumed to be detrimental to democracy, Abramowitz concludes that by presenting voters with clear choices, polarization can serve to increase the public's interest and participation in politics and strengthen electoral accountability.

Author : Brian L. Fife
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 167 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Reforming the Electoral Process in America written by Brian L. Fife and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-06-16 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Calling for increased civic engagement, this book makes a compelling case for reforms that will democratize American elections and provide more power to the people. Quick-fix plans to "restore democracy" are a dime a dozen. Happily, Reforming the Electoral Process in America: Toward More Democracy in the 21st Century offers a more nuanced approach, emphasizing the value of civic engagement in a democratic society. Author Brian L. Fife situates our current plight in the context of the growth of democracy, from the Founding Fathers through the Jackson era, the enfranchisement of blacks after the Civil War, women's suffrage, and the Voting Rights Act of the 1960s. He reflects on the work of the Framers as it pertains to voting and elections, compares voting laws and voter turnout in the various states, and offers an analysis of the impact of money in American elections. Ultimately, Fife proposes a blueprint for reform that includes national same-day voter registration, elimination of punch card and mechanical voting machines, reconsideration of felons' voting rights, regional primaries, and the abolition of the Electoral College.

Author : Daniel M. Shea
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429866720
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Why Vote? written by Daniel M. Shea and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-11 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For nearly 200 years, Americans have pinned the democratic character of their system on elections. In many ways, we have become an election-crazed nation, ever-hoping that the next grand contest or the next great candidate will save the day. But tectonic shifts abound – changes that are distorting the nature of the process. From the rise of fear-centered partisanship, new limits on voter access to the polls, the omnipotence of social media, declining standards of objectivity, Russian interference, the reemergence of the partisan press, the growing weight of elites and more, elections – our "grand democratic feasts" – are transforming before our eyes. We’ve reached a precarious intersection, and it is no stretch to say the future of the republic is at stake. Written by one of the nation’s leading parties and elections scholars, Why Vote? Essential Questions About the Future of Elections in America explores a range of topics. Each chapter is set by a guiding question, and concludes with a novel, often surprising argument. Who or what is to blame for the rise of rabid, hate-centered polarization? Can a third party really save our system? Should we even try to limit money in campaigns? Do elections stifle other, more potent forms of engagement? Who’s to blame for the growing number of voter access restrictions? Might attitudes toward immigration and race form a "unified theory" of voter coalitions? This lively, accessible book is sure to inspire robust discussion and debate. The election process in the United States is coming apart at the seams, and Why Vote? tees up a new way of thinking about the future. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of US politics and elections, and to general interest readers.

Author : Joe Harper
Publisher : Kent State University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780873387545
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Media, Profit, and Politics written by Joe Harper and published by Kent State University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compilation of essays and commentary delivered at the second annual Kent State University Symposium on Democracy, this work recognizes and considers the differences that arise when the competitive forces of commerce clash with the demand for the open availability of information in a democratic society. The conflicting roles of advocate-initiator and objective reporter for journalists who cover community politics; the role of the news media in forming public attitudes toward things political and their role in affecting voter nonparticipation; the role of financial considerations in the news media's attempt to provide citizens with needed news and perspective on political affairs; and particularly the role of the conglomeration of ownership of news media organizations are a few of the topics discussed in this volume.

Author : Elizabeth A. Theiss-Morse
Publisher : CQ Press
ISBN 13 : 1071822195
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Political Behavior of the American Electorate written by Elizabeth A. Theiss-Morse and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2021-12-21 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2020 elections took place under intense political polarization, uncertain economic conditions, a global pandemic, and social unrest. Political Behavior of the American Electorate, Fifteenth Edition, attempts to answer your questions around the above topics by interpreting data from the most recent American National Election Study to provide a thorough analysis of the 2020 elections and the current American political behavior. Authors Elizabeth Theiss-Morse and Michael Wagner continue the tradition of Flanigan and Zingale to illustrate and document trends in American political behavior with the best longitudinal data available. The authors also put these trends in context by focusing on the major concepts and characteristics that shape Americans’ responses to politics. In the completely revised Fifteenth Edition, readers will explore support and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, discuss post-election attitudes about the January 6th attempted coup, examine misinformation and the beliefs in QAnon, and dissect reports on public assessments of President Trump′s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author : Thomas E. Patterson
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307761495
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Out of Order written by Thomas E. Patterson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-01-12 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are our politicians almost universally perceived as liars? What made candidate Bill Clinton's draft record more newsworthy than his policy statements? How did George Bush's masculinity, Ronald Reagan's theatrics with a microphone, and Walter Mondale's appropriation of a Wendy's hamburger ad make or break their presidential campaigns? Ever since Watergate, says Thomas E. Patterson, the road to the presidency has led through the newsrooms, which in turn impose their own values on American politics. The results are campaigns that resemble inquisitions or contests in which the candidates' game plans are considered more important than their goals. Lucid and aphoristic, historically informed and as timely as a satellite feed, Out of Order mounts a devastating inquest into the press's hijacking of the campaign process -- and shows what citizens and legislators can do to win it back.