Chapter 6 Page CHAPTER 6 Voters and Voter Voters and Voter Behavior Behavior · 2020. 10. 12. · Voters and Voter Behavior Introducing the Chapter In this chapter, students will

Voters and VoterBehaviorIntroducing the ChapterIn this chapter, students will learnabout which Americans are qualifiedto vote, how they vote, and how thiselectorate has grown throughout U.S.history.

Chapter 6

The following resources are available only fromthe Close Up Foundation to support the conceptsdiscussed in Chapter 6 “Voters and Voter Rights”:! Perspectives: Readings on Contemporary

American Government! The Bill of Rights Video Series

Close Up Foundation44 Canal Center Plaza

Alexandria, VA 22314-1592800-765-3131

Corner

To keep up-to-date on Close Up news and activities, visit Close Up Online at

www.closeup.org

Make It RelevantYou Can Make a Difference

Have the class undertake a pro-ject similar in form and purposeto Tyler Mann’s. Students could,in lieu of identifying fellow stu-dents’ 18th birthdays, arrangefor a voter registration card tobe distributed to graduatingseniors. Or, they could set up a booth in the cafeteria or atanother appropriate locationand distribute voter registrationcards to 17- and 18-year oldstudents. If possible, have stu-dents cooperate with studentsat other schools to maximizethe number of potential regis-trants they reach.

Service Learning

ConstitutionalPrinciples

Emphasize the following basic prin-ciples as students read Chapter 6.Have the class respond to the ques-tions, and then ask if universalsuffrage could exist in a nationwithout any of these principles.

Popular Sovereignty How does anexpanded electorate contribute topopular sovereignty?

Limited Government In what wayscan American citizens use theirvoting rights to limit the powerof the National Government?

Judicial Review How have judicialactions concerning voting rightsover the past few decades enactedchange in government?

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Voters and Voter Behavior“It is not enough that peoplehave the right to vote. . . .People must have the reasonto vote as well.”

—Jesse Jackson (1988)

People who have struggled to win the right to vote know howimportant it is. Although, since 1789, suffrage has expanded toinclude many more people—notably African Americans andwomen—many Americans do not exercise this important right.A variety of factors influence whether and how people vote.

!!!!

CHAPTER 6

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" Stump Speaking, a hand-colored engraving by Louis-AdolpheGautier, 1856, shows a candidate addressing voters.

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To Omit the ChapterIf you wish to skip Chapter 6, askstudents to read the Chapter in Briefand assign the Guide to the Essentialsbefore continuing to another chapter.You may also want to assign theChapter 6 Test in the Chapter Testbooklet. Then specific portions ofChapter 6 may be assigned to stu-dents needing reinforcement of keyterms and concepts.

To Preview the ChapterTo introduce students to key termsand concepts in each section, havethem read the Chapter in Brief. Youmay also assign the Reading Strategyactivities on pp. 149, 153, 160, and165 of this book.

To Review the ChapterWhen students have completedChapter 6, you might want toassign the Guide to the Essentialsor the Guided Reading and Reviewworksheets on pp. 13, 15, 17, and19 of the Unit 2 booklet.

To Cover the Chapter QuicklyTo cover the material in Chapter 6quickly, use the following activity.Focus Begin by asking students whatthe general eligibility requirements arefor voters today. Write any responseson the chalkboard. Then ask howthose requirements differed in theearly years of the nation, and writedown those responses. Compare thetwo sets of eligibility requirements.Instruct Explain that the Constitutioneliminates certain specific votingrestrictions, such as race, but thatvoting requirements are actuallydetermined by the States. Review thethree universal State requirements—citizenship, residence, and age. Thendiscuss some of the other requirementsStates have instituted in the past. Close/Reteach Emphasize the impor-tance of the right to vote, and howit took many years for that right tobe seen as a basic one. Then ask:Why do so many Americans choosenot to vote? Elicit reasons from theclass, and then discuss each.

Pressed for Time?

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Keep It CurrentKeep It CurrentKeep It Current

Use the Prentice Hall School Web siteand the Keep It Current CD-ROM tofind quick data updates.

Have students access WebCode mqg-2066 to access

this chapter’s updated data.

Keep It Current CD-ROM includes government-related projects by unit. Students completeeach project using current information that

they obtain by linking to the Prentice Hall SchoolWeb site from the CD-ROM.

PHSchool.com

Internet Update

The Right to Vote (pp. 148–150)

! The history of the expansion of the right to vote in the UnitedStates can be divided into five distinct steps.

! The Constitution places five restrictions on the States’ power toset voting qualifications.

Voter Qualifications (pp.152–157)

! All of the States set citizenship, residence, and age require-ments for voting.

! Other voting qualifications have been imposed by various Statesover time. Literacy tests and tax payment have been eliminated;registration is required in all but one State today.

Suffrage and Civil Rights (pp. 159–163)

! The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, declared that the right tovote cannot be denied to a citizen because of race.

! Southern States used a variety of devices to circumvent the 15thAmendment and deny African Americans the vote. These tacticsincluded literacy tests, white primaries, and gerrymandering.

! Congress finally took action to protect minority voting rights inthe Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964.

! The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its later amendments finallyensured African American suffrage.

Voter Behavior (pp. 164–172)

! Millions of Americans who are qualified to vote do not do so.! Those who choose not to vote often lack a feeling of political

efficacy. Age, education, income, and geography also affectwhether a person is likely to vote or not.

! Sociological factors—such as occupation, gender, and ethnicbackground—influence a person’s voting choices.

! Psychological factors—including party identification and per-ception of the candidates and issues—also contribute to voterbehavior.

SECTION 4

SECTION 3

SECTION 2

SECTION 1

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Chapter 6 in Brief

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You Can Make a DifferenceIN MOST STATES an important first step in exercising your right to

vote is registration. In Roswell, Georgia, high school senior Tyler

Mann discovered that less than half of 18- to-20-year-olds had

registered for the upcoming presidential election. “I knew that people

my age were concerned about public issues and the future of this

country. . . . I thought about what I could do to increase participation

in the voting process.” Tyler started a project to encourage students

to register as soon as they turned 18. With school approval, he made

up a list of students’ 18th birthdays. He sent them personal reminder

letters and organized regular voter registration drives.

PHSchool.com

For: Current DataWeb Code: mqg-2066

For: Close Up Foundation debatesWeb Code: mqh-2069

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Objectives You may wish to callstudents’ attention to the objectivesin the Section Preview. The objectivesare reflected in the main headings ofthe section.Bellringer Tell students that you havea thousand dollars to spend on theclass and that they will vote on howto spend the money. However, onlystudents who own a car will get tovote. Ask students what they thinkof this restriction. Explain that inthis section, they will learn aboutrestrictions on voting throughoutAmerican history.Vocabulary Builder Ask students to pick out the two synonyms in thePolitical Dictionary. Then have themdefine or describe the terms.

Point-of-Use Resources

Block Scheduling with LessonStrategies Activities for Chapter 6are presented on p. 22.

The Right to Vote1

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Customize forMore Advanced StudentsHave students conduct research to investigate thechanging role of the Speaker of the House. (Youmay wish to assign each student a specific speaker.)Ask students to summarize their research in briefreports and then lead a discussion on the changingrole.

Consider these suggestions to manage extendedclass time:! Have pairs or small groups of students createtime lines that show the five stages in thegrowth of the American electorate. For eachstage of the time line, students should estimatehow much more of the population has becomeeligible to vote. (Have them look up populationstatistics in an almanac). Have students show

the increases in a bar graph below the time line.! Have students discuss each of the restrictionsthe Constitution places on States’ power to setvoting requirements. Which do they feel is themost important, and which the least? Are thereany restrictions not included in the Constitutionthat should be added? Have students write para-graphs of their opinions.

Block Scheduling Strategies

Lesson Plan

1. Focus Tell students that the num-ber of people with the right to vote hassteadily risen throughout Americanhistory. Ask students to discuss whatthey know about laws that liftedrestrictions on voting.2. Instruct Ask students for the dateby which all States had finally elimi-nated a religious test for voting.Discuss the other restrictions on vot-ing rights that have been eliminatedthroughout American history. Concludeby talking about the Constitution’srestrictions on States’ power to setvoting qualifications.3. Close/Reteach Remind studentsthat many restrictions on votingrights have been eliminated. Askstudents to explain which of the fivestages of suffrage expansion theythink was the most important forAmerican society.

The Right to Vote

Objectives

1. Summarize the history of voting rights inthe United States.

2. Identify and explain constitutional restric-tions on the States’ power to set votingqualifications.

Why It Matters

Democratic government can succeed only ifits citizens are willing to vote. The history ofthe United States has been marked by asteady expansion of the electorate throughthe elimination of restrictions on votingqualifications.

PoliticalDictionary! suffrage! franchise! electorate

Expansion of the ElectorateWhen the Constitution went into effect in1789, the right to vote in the United States wasrestricted to white male property owners. Infact, probably not one in fifteen adult whitemales could vote in elections in the differentStates. Benjamin Franklin often lampooned thissituation. He told of a man whose only prop-erty was a jackass and noted that the manwould lose the right to vote if his jackass died.“Now,” asked Franklin, “in whom is the rightof suffrage? In the man or the jackass?”

Today, the size of the American electorate—the potential voting population—is truly impres-sive. Some 220 million people, nearly all citizenswho are at least 18 years of age, can now quali-fy to vote. That huge number is a direct result ofthe legal definition of suffrage. In other words, itis the result of those laws that determine whocan and cannot vote. It is also the result of some200 years of continuing, often bitter, and some-times violent struggle.

The history of American suffrage since 1789has been marked by two long-term trends. First,the nation has experienced the gradual elimina-tion of several restrictions on the right to vote.These restrictions were based on such factors as

SSoon, you will be eligible to vote—but willyou exercise that right? The record suggests

that while you may do so, many of your friendswill not, at least not for some time. The recordalso suggests that some of your friends will nevervote. Yet, clearly, the success of democraticgovernment depends on popular participation,and, in particular, on the regular and informedexercise of the right to vote.

The History of Voting RightsThe Framers of the Constitution purposely leftthe power to set suffrage qualifications to eachState. Suffrage means the right to vote. Franchiseis another term with the same meaning.1

1Originally, the Constitution had only two suffrage provisions.Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 requires each State to allow anyonequalified to vote for members of “the most numerous Branch” of itsown legislature to vote as well for members of the national House ofRepresentatives. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 provides that presi-dential electors be chosen in each State “in such Manner as theLegislature thereof may direct.”

! These historical flags (left to right: pre-1777,c. 1820, c. 1865) illustrate the expansion of thenation and growth of the electorate.

Teaching the Main Ideas L3

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Reading StrategyGetting the Main IdeaAsk students to take notes, as theyread, on how the voting populationhas changed throughout Americanhistory. When they finish reading, stu-dents should use these details to writea main idea for the entire section.

Assign one of the five stages of thehistory of voting rights to students.Have each student suppose he or sheis a disenfranchised U.S. citizen dur-ing that time period. Ask them tomake a journal entry about theiropinions or feelings at the time thatthey heard of the important piece ofvoter legislation that was passed.Encourage students to include infor-mation about how life was for theindividual before the legislation andhow they believe the new laws willimpact their lives in the future. Askfor volunteers to share their entrieswith the class.


Guided Reading and Review Unit 2booklet, p. 12 provides students withpractice identifying the main ideasand key terms of this section.

Lesson Planner For completelesson planning suggestions, see theLesson Planner booklet, section 1.

Political Cartoons See p. 23 ofthe Political Cartoons booklet for acartoon relevant to this section.

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Chapter 6 • Section 1

Answer to . . .Critical Thinking Answers will vary,but students should cite reasonsfor their opinions.

To make sure students understand the mainpoints of this section, you may wish to use theflowchart graphic organizer to the right.

Tell students that a flowchart can be used torecord a sequence of events. Have students use aflowchart to record details about the five stagesof the expansion of suffrage.

Teaching Tip A template for this graphic organizercan be found in the Section SupportTransparencies, Transparency 4.

Organizing Information

of suffrage. Wyoming, while still a territory, hadgiven women the vote in 1869. By 1920 morethan half of the States had followed that lead.

4. A fourth major extension took place duringthe 1960s. During that time, federal legislationand court decisions focused on securing AfricanAmericans a full role in the electoral process inall States. With the passage and vigorousenforcement of a number of civil rights acts,especially the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and itslater extensions, racial equality finally becamefact in polling booths throughout the country.

The 23rd Amendment, passed in 1961,added the voters of the District of Columbia tothe presidential electorate. The 24th Amend-ment, ratified in 1964, eliminated the poll tax

religious belief, property ownership, tax pay-ment, race, and sex. Second, a significant shareof what was originally the States’ power over theright to vote has gradually been assumed by theFederal Government.

Extending Suffrage: The Five StagesThe growth of the American electorate to itspresent size and shape has come in five fairlydistinct stages. The two trends describedabove—elimination of voting restrictions andgrowing federal control over voting—arewoven through those stages. You will see severalillustrations of both of these trends over thecourse of this chapter.

1. The first stage of the struggle to extendvoting rights came in the early 1800s. Religiousqualifications, instituted in colonial days, quicklydisappeared. No State has had a religious testfor voting since 1810. Then, one by one, Statesbegan to eliminate property ownership and taxpayment qualifications. By mid-century, almostall white adult males could vote in every State.

2. The second major effort to broaden theelectorate followed the Civil War. The 15thAmendment, ratified in 1870, was intended toprotect any citizen from being denied the rightto vote because of race or color. Still, for nearlyanother century, African Americans were sys-tematically prevented from voting, and theyremained the largest group of disenfranchisedcitizens in the nation’s population.

3. The 19th Amendment prohibited thedenial of the right to vote because of sex. Its rati-fication in 1920 completed the third expansion

! This 18-year-old is casting a votefor the first time.Critical ThinkingDo you think 18 isthe right minimumage for voting?Why or why not?

! Suffragist StruggleAmerican suffragists firstdemanded the right to vote in1848 at a meeting in SenecaFalls, New York. It took until1920 to achieve ratification ofthe 19th Amendment, extend-ing the vote to women inevery State in the country.

L3


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Guide to the Essentials Chapter 6,Section 1, p. 38 provides sup-

port for students who need additionalreview of section content. Spanishsupport is available in the Spanishedition of the Guide on p. 31.

Quiz Unit 2 booklet, p. 13includes matching and multiple-choice questions to check students’understanding of Section 1 content.

Section Support TransparenciesTransparency 26, Visual Learning;Transparency 125, Political Cartoon

Basic Principles of the ConstitutionTransparencies Transparency 11,Popular Sovereignty

Presentation Pro CD-ROM Quizzesand multiple-choice questions

check students’ understanding ofSection 1 content.

Answers to . . .

Section 1 Assessment1. The gradual elimination of votingrestrictions and the expansion of theFederal Government’s control overvoting have greatly expanded suffrage.2. Stages include: The early 1800sduring which religious, property own-ership and tax payment qualificationswere eliminated; the post-Civil Warera which saw the passage of the 15thAmendment; the passage of the 19thAmendment which expanded suffragefor women; the 1960s, which saw thepassage of several civil rights acts;and the passage of the 23rd and 24thAmendments, eliminating poll taxesand adding the District of Columbiato the electorate.3. Nearly all citizens who are at least18 years of age.4. Voters must be able to vote in allelections, cannot be deprived of theright to vote based on race, sex, orage (above 18), and States may notimpose taxes as a condition to vote.5. Answers will vary, but should pre-sent valid examples.6. Possible answer: To ensure that allcitizens had equal rights; were it leftto the States, the view of those rightscould vary from State to State.

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Chapter 6 • Section 1or election of any federal officeholder. That is, noState can levy any tax in connection with the selec-tion of the President, the Vice President, or mem-bers of Congress (24th Amendment).

5. No State can deprive any person who is atleast 18 years of age of the right to vote becauseof age (26th Amendment).5

Beyond these five restrictions, remember thatno State can violate any other provision in theConstitution in the setting of suffrage qualifica-tions—or in anything else that it does. A casedecided by the Supreme Court in 1975, Hill v.Stone, illustrates this point.

The Court struck down a section of theTexas constitution that declared that only thosepersons who owned taxable property couldvote in city bond elections. The Court foundthe drawing of such a distinction for votingpurposes—between those who do and thosewho do not own taxable property—to be anunreasonable classification, prohibited by the14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Key Terms and Main Ideas1. Describe two long-term trends that have characterized the

history of suffrage in the United States.2. Describe five distinct stages in the growth of the American

electorate.3. Who exercises the franchise?4. What restrictions does the Constitution place on the States

in setting suffrage qualifications?

Critical Thinking5. Demonstrating Reasoned Judgment It is the year 1970.

Suppose that you are a young adult testifying beforeCongress in favor of granting the vote to 18-year-olds. Whatarguments would you present in order to make your case?

6. Drawing Inferences Why do you think the FederalGovernment took more and more control over the setting ofvoter qualifications? Why could the States not have accom-plished the same ends?

2Article I, Section 2, Clause 1; the 17th Amendment extended the“most numerous branch” provision to the election of senators.

3The phrase “previous condition of servitude” refers to slavery.This amendment does not guarantee the right to vote to AfricanAmericans, or to anyone else. Instead, it forbids discrimination onthese grounds when the States set suffrage qualifications.

4This amendment does not guarantee the right to vote to womenas such. Technically, it forbids States the power to discriminateagainst males or females in establishing suffrage qualifications.

5This amendment does not prevent any State from allowing persons younger than age 18 to vote. It does prohibit a State fromsetting a maximum age for voting.

(as well as any other tax) as a condition for votingin any federal election.

5. The fifth and latest expansion of the elec-torate came with the adoption of the 26thAmendment in 1971. It provides that no State canset the minimum age for voting at more than 18years of age. In other words, those 18 and overwere given the right to vote by this amendment.

The Power to Set VotingQualificationsThe Constitution does not give the FederalGovernment the power to set suffrage qualifica-tions. Rather, that matter is reserved to theStates. The Constitution does, however, placefive restrictions on how the States use that power.

1. Any person whom a State allows to votefor members of the “most numerous branch” ofits own legislature must also be allowed to votefor representatives and senators in Congress.2

This restriction is of little real meaning today.With only minor exceptions, each of the Statesallows the same voters to vote in all electionswithin the State.

2. No State can deprive any person of theright to vote “on account of race, color, or previ-ous condition of servitude” (15th Amendment).3

3. No State can deprive any person of the rightto vote on account of sex (19th Amendment).4

4. No State can require payment of any taxas a condition for taking part in the nomination

PHSchool.com

For: An activity on the right to vote

Web Code: mqd-2061

Progress Monitoring OnlineFor: Self-quiz with vocabulary practiceWeb Code: mqa-2061

PHSchool.com


Typing in the Web Code whenprompted will bring students directly to detailedinstructions for this activity.

PHSchool.com


150

Test for Success(a) Answers include city or town hall, alocal election commission, news media,and interest groups. (b) Answers includegovernment sources, major newssources, and nonpartisan civic groups,such as the League of Women Voters.


Skills for Life Activities p. 19 pro-vides an additional skill activity for thischapter.

Social Studies Skills TutorCD-ROM Provides interactive practice

in geographic literacy, critical thinking andreading, visual analysis, and communica-tions.

Casting Your Vote

Why have people riskedtheir lives to get andkeep the right to vote? In

the United States, we tend totake this right for granted. Yet ifwe were ever deprived of it, wewould surely come to recognizeits great value.

The voting process may varyslightly from place to place, butin general, these steps apply:1. Determine if you are eligible tovote. To qualify to vote, you mustbe an American citizen at least18 years of age and a resident ofthe State in which you vote.2. Register to vote. In every Stateexcept North Dakota, you mustregister to vote. You can registerlocally, usually at city hall or thecounty courthouse. Registrationtables are often set up in shop-ping malls, supermarkets,libraries, and fire stations beforean election. You can register bymail, and in some places, via theInternet. To register you willneed proof of your age, such asa birth certificate.3. Study the candidates andissues. Identify the candidates foreach office and the duties of theoffice. Then research the candi-dates’ views on major issues.Besides voting for candidates foroffice, voters often have theopportunity to directly approveor reject proposed State and local

laws. Don’t wait until you are inthe voting booth to becomefamiliar with these issues.4. Go to your polling place. Inmany States, voters receive avoter registration card identifyingtheir precinct and polling place.Newspapers often publish lists ofpolling places prior to an elec-tion. Polls are usually open from7:00 or 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 or 8:00P.M. At the polling place, yourname will be checked against alist of registered voters to makesure you are eligible to vote. Youwill be directed to a booth withsome type of voting device, oryou will be given a paper ballotand directed to a voting booth.5. Cast your vote. Follow theinstructions on the voting deviceor ballot, so your vote will becounted properly. Do not feelrushed. If you have a question,ask an attending official. Makesure you’ve made a selection inevery contest in which you wishto vote.

Test for Success(a) Brainstorm at least three possiblesources of voter information for voters inyour area. (b) What sources would youconsider most reliable?

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Skills for LifeSkills for LifeCasting Your VoteFocus Engage students in the votingprocess by conducting a voter infor-mation drive at school.Instruct Divide the class into twogroups. One will research how andwhere citizens can register to vote inyour area. The other will get detaileddirections on the locations of localpolling places. If timing permits, havea third group research any upcomingballot initiatives, compiling informa-tion on both sides of the issues. The groups should work together tocreate a voter information bulletinboard. It should have pockets stuffedwith cards providing the facts theygathered on registration and votinglocations, so interested students cantake a card from the pockets. Thebulletin board can be created in theclassroom or in a more visible loca-tion elsewhere in the school.Close/Reteach Hold a brief class dis-cussion on why voting is important.Explore why Americans tend to takethe privilege for granted. Discussobstacles to registering and voting,and brainstorm what communitiescan do to increase participation.

SKILLS FOR LIFESKILLS FOR LIFE! ! ! ! ! ! !

151

Answers . . .1. Poll students to find out howmany will be eligible to vote inthe next local, State, or nationalelection.2. If any students in the class areeligible to register, ask for volun-teers to register and report to theclass on how the process worked.3. If an election is not occurringin the near future, students canstill do research into when theirelected representatives will comeup for reelection and where theystand on key issues that wouldaffect students’ voting preferences.4. Make sure students know theirprecinct number and polling place.5. If possible, obtain sample ballotsor mail-in ballots from a localsource for students to becomefamiliar with.

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Objectives You may wish to callstudents’ attention to the objectivesin the Section Preview. The objectivesare reflected in the main headings ofthe section.Bellringer Write the phrase NoShirt, No Shoes—No Service! on theboard, and ask students where theyhave seen it and whether they thinkthis restriction on who can enter arestaurant is fair. Explain that in thissection, they will learn about therestrictions, or qualifications, onwho can enter a voting booth.Vocabulary Builder Point out thePolitical Dictionary. Have studentstry to link the first two terms andthe last two terms to restrictions onvoting. Ask students to verify theirlinks as they read the section.

Voter Qualifications2

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Consider these suggestions to manage extendedclass time:! Divide the class into small groups, and assigneach one of the universal voting requirements.Have each group debate the usefulness of theirassigned requirement. When they have finished,ask them to present the pros and cons of theirrequirement to the rest of the class. Then askeach group if there should be any other universalvoting requirements.

! Tell students that in 1999, Congress proposedthe Civic Participation and Rehabilitation Act(H.R. 906), restoring federal voting rights to con-victs released from prison. Have students use theInternet to research the bill and the debate thatsurrounded its proposal. (A link to the text of thebill can be found at www.PHSchool.com) Thenhave students reconstruct the debate over the billin the classroom, incorporating their research andtheir own opinions.


Lesson Plan

1. Focus Tell students that to qualifyfor voting, people must meet therequirements set by their States. Askstudents to discuss what they knowabout the requirements that everyState has.2. Instruct Ask students what pre-vents transients from voting in mostStates. Have students skim the sec-tion to identify this and other past andpresent voter qualifications requiredby States. List them on the board.Have students circle all requirementsstill held by at least one State. Discusshow the elimination of the uncircledrequirements has expanded suffrage.3. Close/Reteach Remind studentsthat several requirements for votinghave been eliminated because Statesused them to disfranchise certaingroups. Ask students to write all ofthe subheadings from the section ona sheet of paper. Have them reviewthe section and summarize the keypoints for each subheading.

Voter Qualifications

Objectives

1. Identify the universal requirements for votingin the United States.

2. Explain the other requirements that Stateshave used or still use as voting qualifications.

Why It Matters

All States have citizenship, residence, andage requirements for voting. Other votingqualifications differ from State to State.Some requirements—especially thosethat were used to disenfranchise certaingroups—have been eliminated over time.

PoliticalDictionary" transient" registration" purge" poll books" literacy" poll tax

to vote in the United States. Still, nothing in theConstitution says that aliens cannot vote, andany State could allow them to do so if it chose.At one time about a fourth of the States per-mitted those aliens who had applied for natu-ralization to vote. Typically, the western Statesdid so to help attract settlers.6

Only two States now draw any distinctionbetween native-born and naturalized citizenswith regard to suffrage. The Minnesota consti-tution requires a person to have been anAmerican citizen for at least three months beforehe or she can vote in elections there. And thePennsylvania constitution says that one musthave become a citizen at least one month beforean election in order to vote in that State.

ResidenceIn order to vote in this country today, one mustbe a legal resident of the State in which he or shewishes to cast a ballot. In most States a personmust have lived in the State for at least a certainperiod of time before he or she can vote.

The States adopted residence requirementsfor two reasons: (1) to keep a political machinefrom importing (bribing) enough outsiders toaffect the outcome of local elections (a oncecommon practice), and (2) to allow new voters

AA re you qualified to vote? Probably not—atleast not yet. Do you know why? In this

section, you will see how the States, includingyours, determine who can vote. You will also seethat the various qualifications they set are notvery difficult to meet.

Universal RequirementsToday, every State requires that any personwho wants to vote must be able to satisfy qual-ifications based on three factors: (1) citizenship,(2) residence, and (3) age. The States have someleeway in shaping the details of the first two ofthese factors; they have almost no discretionwith regard to the third one.

CitizenshipAliens—foreign-born residents who have notbecome citizens—are generally denied the right

6Arkansas, the last State in which aliens could vote, adopted acitizenship requirement in 1926. In a few States, local governmentscan permit noncitizens to vote in local contests—e.g., city councilelections—and a handful do.

! These people are participating in a ceremony making themAmerican citizens—one qualification for voting.



152

Reading StrategyDrawing InferencesAsk students to look for the answerto this question as they read: Howeasy is it for an American to qualifyto vote? Students should answer thequestion and provide details to sup-port that answer.




Political Cartoons See p. 24 of the Political Cartoons booklet for acartoon relevant to this section.


153


To make sure students understand the mainpoints of this section, you may wish to use theweb graphic organizer to the right.

Tell students that a web can be used to recorda main idea and its supporting details. Have stu-dents use the web to record details about votingrequirements for Americans.



Answer to . . .Interpreting Political Cartoons Byusing intimidation tactics to discourage some voters, or byemploying voting officials whoonly “count” favorable votes.

residence. In several States, however, the courtshave held that college students who claim thecampus community as their legal residence canvote there.

AgeThe 26th Amendment, added to the Constitu-tion in 1971, declares:

“ The right of citizens of theUnited States, who are

eighteen years of age or older, to vote shallnot be denied or abridged by the UnitedStates or by any State on account of age.”

—26th Amendment

Thus, no State may set the minimum age forvoting in any election at more than 18. In otherwords, the amendment extends suffrage to cit-izens who are at least 18 years of age. Notice,however, that any State could set the age at lessthan 18, if it chose to do so.

Until the 26th Amendment was adopted, thegenerally accepted age requirement for voting was21. In fact, up to 1970, only four States had putthe age under 21. Georgia was the first State toallow 18-year-olds to vote; it did so in 1943, in themidst of World War II. Kentucky followed suit in1955. Alaska entered the Union in 1959 with the

7Recall, the precinct is the smallest unit of election administration;see page 140. The ward is a unit into which cities are often dividedfor the election of members of the city council.

8Until recently, Arizona imposed a 50-day requirement period. TheSupreme Court upheld Arizona’s residence law in Marston v. Lewis in1973, but it also declared that that law “approaches the outer consti-tutional limits.”

9The Supreme Court upheld this in Oregon v. Mitchell in 1970.

at least some time to become familiar with thecandidates and issues in an election.

For decades, every State imposed a fairlylengthy residence requirement—typically, a yearin the State, 60 or 90 days in the county, and 30days in the local precinct or ward.7 The require-ment was a longer one in some southern States—for example, one year in the State, six months inthe county, and three months in the precinct inAlabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina, and ayear in the State, a year in the county, and sixmonths in the precinct in Mississippi.

Residence requirements are not nearly so longtoday. In fact, most States now require that avoter be a legal resident but attach no time peri-od to that qualification. About a fourth of themsay that a voter must have lived in a State for atleast 30 days. In a few, the period is somewhatshorter—for example, 29 days in Arizona, 28 inKentucky, 20 in Minnesota, and 10 inWisconsin.8

Today’s much shorter requirements are adirect result of a 1970 law and a 1972 SupremeCourt decision. In the Voting Rights Act Amend-ments of 1970, Congress banned any requirementof longer than 30 days for voting in presidentialelections.9 In Dunn v. Blumstein, 1972, theSupreme Court found Tennessee’s requirement—at the time, a year in the State and 90 days in thecounty—unconstitutional. The Court held such alengthy requirement to be an unsupportable dis-crimination against new residents and so in con-flict with the 14th Amendment’s EqualProtection Clause. The Supreme Court said that“30 days appears to be an ample period of time.”Election law and practice among the Statesquickly accepted that standard.

Nearly every State does prohibit transients, per-sons living in the State for only a short time, fromgaining a legal residence there. Thus, a travelingsales agent, a member of the armed services, or acollege student usually cannot vote in a Statewhere he or she has only a temporary physical

Interpreting Political Cartoons This 1870 cartoon depicts the“boss” of a corrupt New York City political “machine.” How doyou think a dishonest administration might arrange to“count the votes” to its own advantage?

“THAT’S WHAT’S THE MATTER.”BOSS TWEED. “As long as I count the votes,

what are you going to do about it? say?”


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Explain to students that in the 2000presidential election, ballot designbecame a controversial issue. Votersin the State of Florida complainedthat the “butterfly” ballot they usedwas confusing, causing them to mis-cast their intended vote. Have stu-dents design a ballot that is easy toread and understand. They may testtheir ballots by having other studentsuse them to vote for something, forexample, a favorite food.LPR

For career-related links and activities, visitthe Magruder’s American Governmentcompanion Web site in the Social Studiesarea at the Prentice Hall School Web site.

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Background NoteRoots of DemocracyWhile the right to vote is nearly universaland those not permitted to vote are theexception in democracy as we know ittoday, in Athens, Greece, the birthplaceof democracy, voting was restricted tothe privileged few. Only citizens couldvote, and only men could be citizens.Although there were occasional excep-tions, one generally had to be born intothe more affluent citizen class in orderto vote. Even at the height of Atheniandemocracy in the fourth century B.C.,when citizenship extended morebroadly than ever before, only 40,000of an estimated population of 275,000were citizens—about 1 out of 7.

Answer to . . .Interpreting Political Cartoons (a) Hefeels that though he has specificopinions about government andpoliticians, his vote won’t make adifference. (b) That such attitudesare part of the problem.

Make It Relevant

Voter registration cards, ballots, public informationbooklets, posters, books, forms—each of thesemillions of printed items issued by the U.S. gov-ernment must be designed. Many governmentagencies employ print designers to not onlyenhance the appearance of a printed item, butalso to clearly convey vital information toAmerican citizens.

Skills Activity Have a small group of students designa voter registration card. Their goal should be tomake the card attractive and appealing enough toencourage registration. Have students post theirdesign(s) in the classroom, along with an actualvoter registration card. Then have individual stu-dents write paragraphs explaining why they wouldor would not be interested in this career.

Careers in Government—Print Designer

Those States allow anyone whose18th birthday falls after the primarybut before the general election to votein the primary election.

One State, Nebraska, has come veryclose to effectively lowering the votingage to 17 for all elections. There, anyperson who will be 18 by the Tuesdayfollowing the first Monday in Novembercan qualify to vote in any election heldduring that calendar year.

Other QualificationsThe States have imposed a number ofother qualifications over time—notably,requirements based on literacy, tax pay-ment, and registration. Only registrationhas survived as a significant requirement.

RegistrationForty-nine States—all except North Dakota—require that most or all voters be registered tovote. Registration is a procedure of voter identifi-cation intended to prevent fraudulent voting. Itgives election officials a list of those persons whoare qualified to vote in an election. Several Statesalso use voter registration to identify voters interms of their party preference and, thus, theireligibility to take part in closed primaries.

Voter registration became a common featureof State election law in the early 1900s. Today,most States require all voters to register in orderto vote in any election held within the State. Afew do not impose the requirement for all elec-tions, however. In Wisconsin, for example, onlythose in urban areas must register to vote.10

Typically, a prospective voter must register hisor her name, age, place of birth, present address,length of residence, and similar facts. The infor-mation is logged by a local official, usually a reg-istrar of elections or the county clerk. A votertypically remains registered unless or until he orshe moves, dies, is convicted of a serious crime,or is committed to a mental institution.

State law directs local election officials toreview the lists of registered voters and to removethe names of those who are no longer eligible to

10Wisconsin does not require registration by voters who live inrural areas or in cities with populations of less than 10,000.

Interpreting Political Cartoons (a) What attitudes make this cartoon character a nonvoter? (b) What is the cartoonist’s opinion of these attitudes?

voting age set at 19, and Hawaii became a Statelater that same year with a voting age of 20.

Both Alaska and Hawaii set the age above 18but below 21 to avoid potential problems causedby high school students voting in local school-district elections. Whatever the fears at the time,there have been no such problems in any Statesince the passage of the 26th Amendment.

Efforts to lower the voting age to 18 nation-wide began in the 1940s, during World War II.These efforts were capped by the adoption of the26th Amendment in 1971, during the war inVietnam. That amendment was ratified morequickly than any other amendment to theConstitution. This fact is testament to the emo-tional weight of the principal argument in itsfavor: “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”

How have 18-to-20-year-olds responded tothe 26th Amendment? In short, not very well. Inelection after election, young voters are much lesslikely to vote than any other age group in the elec-torate. In 1972, 48 percent of the 18-to-20 agegroup voted, but by 2000 that figure had plum-meted to 28 percent. It did rise in 2004, and sub-stantially—to nearly 38 percent. But contrast thatfigure with the turnout of Americans 65 andolder. Despite the infirmities that may accompanytheir age, their rate regularly exceeds 60 percent,and it did so again in 2004.

In a growing number of States, some 17-year-olds can now cast ballots in primary elections.

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Time 90 minutes.Purpose Debate the issue of whethervoter registration is a necessaryrequirement for voting. Grouping Half the class will argue infavor of voter registration while theother half will argue against it. (Asmall group of students may also actas a jury.) Activity As sides prepare their argu-ments, encourage them to considerissues such as voter turnout, electionfraud, and the Motor Voter Law. Roles Discussion leader, recorder,spokesperson, timekeeper. Close Each side will be allotted anequal amount of time to present itsarguments. In addition, each side willbe granted time to make rebuttals topoints made by the opposition. A jurymay vote on which team presented itscase most effectively.


Government Assessment RubricsClass Discussion, p. 26

Block Scheduling with LessonStrategies Additional activities forChapter 6 appear on p. 22.

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Have students read the passages under Other Qualifications on pp. 154–156and then answer the question below. Which of the following is still a valid voting requirement in most States today?A passing a literacy testB registeringC paying a poll taxD being a white male

Preparing for Standardized TestsAnswer to . . .Interpreting Graphs (a) About 10percent wore a button or put asticker on their car; about 8 per-cent gave money to a campaign;and about 4 percent worked for aparty or candidate. (b) Answersshould be supported with specificreferences to the graph.

Political Participation and Awareness in America

SOURCE: The National Election Studies Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior, University of Michigan, 2000

0 10 20 30 40

Percentage of Americans

50 60 70 80

Trust the Federal Government most of the time

Percentage of Americans who...

Think people have a say inwhat the government does

Worked for a party or candidate in the last election

Wore a button or put a stickeron their car in the last election

Gave money to a campaign

Were contacted by either major party

Read about campaign in newspapers

Watched the campaignon television

Care who won the presidential election

Care who won thecongressional election

Approve of the way Congresshas been handling its job

Think most government officials are honest

90

vote. This process is known as purging, and it isusually supposed to be done every two or fouryears. Unfortunately, the requirement is oftenignored. Where it is, the poll books (the officiallists of qualified voters in each precinct) soonbecome clogged with the names of a great manypeople who, for one reason or another, are nolonger eligible to vote.

There are some who think that the registra-tion requirement should be abolished, every-where. They see the qualification as a bar tovoting, especially by the poor and less educated.

Those critics buttress their case by noting thatvoter turnout began to decline in the early 1900s,just after most States adopted a registrationrequirement. They also point to the fact that voterturnout is much higher in most European democ-racies than in the United States. In those countriesvoter registration is not a matter of individualchoice; by law, public officials must enter thenames of all eligible citizens on registration lists.The United States is the only democratic country

in which each person decides whether or not he orshe will register to vote.

Most people who have studied the problemfavor keeping the registration requirement as anecessary defense against fraud. However, theyalso favor making the process a more convenientone. In short, they see the problem in these terms:Where is the line between making it so easy tovote that fraud is encouraged, and making it sodifficult that legitimate voting is discouraged?

Most States have eased the registration processover the last several years, and in 1993 Congresspassed a law that required every State (but NorthDakota) to do so. That law, dubbed the “MotorVoter Law,” became effective in 1995. It directsevery State to (1) allow all eligible citizens to reg-ister to vote when they apply for or renew a dri-ver’s license; (2) provide for voter registration bymail; and (3) make registration forms available atthe local offices of State employment, welfare,and other social service agencies. The FederalElection Commission reports that by 2000 some

Interpreting Graphs(a) Approximately what percentage of Americans participate in some way in political campaigns?(b) Judging by the attitudes shownin the graph, what could be doneto increase that participation?

Watched thecampaign ontelevision

Were contactedby either major party

Gave money toa campaign

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Have students create posters explain-ing each of the universal votingrequirements described in this section.Students should design their postersso they provide quick informationfor a person unfamiliar with votingrequirements. Encourage students todecorate their posters or includevisuals on them. LPR


ABC News Civics andGovernment Videotape Library

The Blessings of Liberty, 1803–1861(time: about 15 minutes)


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Background NoteA Diverse NationAlthough no State today requires itscitizens to fulfill a literacy requirementin order to vote, immigrants must showthat they can read, write, speak, andunderstand English in order to becomeAmerican citizens. This literacy test isone of several criteria—including pos-sessing “good character” and demon-strating a knowledge of United Stateshistory and government—that aliensmust meet as part of the naturalizationprocess. Since only American citizenspossess suffrage rights, then, there is a de facto literacy requirement whichapplies to those who must arrive attheir citizenship through naturalizationrather than birth.

Answer to . . .Interpreting Political Cartoons Theydisqualified white, male voters.

read, write, and “understand” some printedmaterial, usually a passage taken from the State orFederal Constitution. Often, whites were asked to “understand” short, plainly worded passages;African Americans were faced with long and highly complex passages.

Connecticut adopted the first literacy qualifi-cations in 1855. Massachusetts followed in1857. Both of these States were trying to limitvoting by Irish Catholic immigrants. Mississippiadopted a literacy requirement in 1890, andshortly, most of the other southern States followed suit. Southern literacy qualificationsusually included an “understanding clause”—again, requiring potential voters to demonstratecomprehension of some printed material.

While those qualifications had been aimedat disenfranchising African Americans, theysometimes had unintended effects. SeveralStates soon found that they needed to adjusttheir voting requirements by adding so-called“grandfather clauses” to their constitutions.These grandfather clauses were designed toenfranchise those white males who were unin-tentionally disqualified by their failure to meetthe literacy or taxpaying requirements.

A grandfather clause was added to theLouisiana constitution in 1895; Alabama,Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma,and Virginia soon added them as well. Theseclauses stated that any man, or his male descen-dants, who had voted in the State before theadoption of the 15th Amendment (1870) couldbecome a legal voter without regard to any liter-acy or taxpaying qualifications. The SupremeCourt found the Oklahoma provision, the last tobe adopted (in 1910), in conflict with the 15thAmendment in Guinn v. United States in 1915.

A number of States outside the South alsoadopted literacy qualifications: Wyoming in 1889,California in 1894, Washington in 1896, NewHampshire in 1902, Arizona in 1913, New Yorkin 1921, Oregon in 1924, and Alaska in 1949.Its unfair use finally led Congress to eliminateliteracy as a suffrage qualification in the VotingRights Act Amendments of 1970. The SupremeCourt agreed in Oregon v. Mitchell, 1970:

8 million persons had registered to vote as a directresult of the Motor Voter Law.

The law also requires every State to mail aquestionnaire to each of its registered votersevery four years, so that the poll books can bepurged for deaths and changes of residence. Italso forbids the States to purge for any otherreason, including failure to vote.

Maine and Wisconsin allow voters to registerat any time, up to and including election day.Elsewhere a voter must be registered by somedate before an election, often 20 or 30 daysbeforehand.11 That cutoff gives election officialstime to prepare the poll books for an upcomingelection.

LiteracyToday, no State has a suffrage qualification basedon voter literacy—a person’s ability to read orwrite. At one time, the literacy requirement couldbe, and in many places was, used to make surethat a qualified voter had the capacity to cast aninformed ballot. It also was used unfairly inmany places to prevent or discourage certaingroups from voting. For many years, it was adevice to keep African Americans from voting inparts of the South, and Native Americans andLatinos from voting in the West and Southwest.

Some literacy requirements called for poten-tial voters to prove they had the ability to read;other States required proof of the ability to bothread and write. Still others required the ability to

11In Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Wyoming,a person who is qualified to vote but misses the deadline can register (and then vote) on election day.

Interpreting PoliticalCartoons Voter literacytests were often used todiscourage AfricanAmerican voters.According to the cartoon-ist, what unexpectedresults did these testssometimes have?

“By th’ way, what’s that big word?”

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Answers to . . .

Section 2 Assessment1. Registration helps prevent fraudu-lent voting and determines eligibilityfor closed primaries.2. The Motor Voter Law allows citi-zens to register to vote by mail orwhen they renew a driver’s license,and provides that forms be availableat local government offices. Its pur-pose is to encourage citizens to vote.3. (a) Poll books are used to keep trackof all registered voters in a district.(b) Purging is necessary to keep themcurrent by eliminating people whomoved away or died.4. As only wealthier people couldafford it, the poll tax served to dis-courage African Americans fromvoting. The Supreme Court foundthe poll tax to violate the 14thAmendment.5. Answers will vary, but studentsshould address issues discussed inthe text and support their answerswith examples.

157

Answer to . . .Critical Thinking It discourages people who might think they won’tbe able to fill out the applicationcorrectly; it frightens people whomight not want their names toappear in the newspaper.

6. Grandfather clauses were intendedto allow white males to vote whootherwise would have been restrictedby poll taxes or other requirements.They demonstrated a bias towardwhite males and against AfricanAmericans.

12By that time, the poll tax had been abolished in North Carolina(1924), Louisiana (1934), Florida (1937), Georgia (1945), SouthCarolina (1950), Tennessee (1951), and Arkansas (1964).

“ In enacting the literacy testban . . . Congress had before it

a long history of the discriminatory use ofliteracy tests to disfranchise voters onaccount of their race.”

—Justice Hugo Black, Opinion of the Court

At the time Congress banned literacy tests, 18 States had some form of literacy requirement

Tax PaymentProperty ownership, proved by the payment ofproperty taxes, was once a very common suffragequalification. For decades several States alsodemanded the payment of a special tax, called thepoll tax, as a condition for voting. Those require-ments and others that called for the payment of atax in order to vote have disappeared.

The poll tax was once found throughout theSouth. Beginning with Florida in 1889, each of the11 southern States adopted the poll tax as part oftheir effort to discourage voting by African Ameri-cans. The device proved to be of only limited effec-tiveness, however. That fact, and opposition to theuse of the poll tax from within the South as wellas elsewhere, led most of those States to abandonit. By 1966, the poll tax was still in use only inAlabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.12

The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, out-lawed the poll tax, or any other tax, as a condi-tion for voting in any federal election. TheSupreme Court finally eliminated the poll tax asa qualification for voting in all elections in 1966.In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, theCourt held the Virginia poll tax to be in conflictwith the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection

Clause. The Court could find no reasonablerelationship between the act of voting on the onehand and the payment of a tax on the other.

Persons Denied the VoteClearly, democratic government can exist onlywhere the right to vote is very widely held. Still,every State does purposely deny the vote to cer-tain persons. For example, none of the 50 Statesallows people in mental institutions, or anyother persons who have been legally found to bementally incompetent, to vote. A fourth of theStates still prohibit anyone who commits a seri-ous crime from ever gaining or regaining theright to vote. A few States also do not allow any-one dishonorably discharged from the armedforces to cast a ballot.

! This photo was taken in Mississippi, in 1978, when AfricanAmerican suffrage was supposed to be assured. CriticalThinking What tactics does the sign use to intimidateAfrican Americans who want to register to vote?

Key Terms and Main Ideas1. For what reasons do most States require voter registration?2. What is the Motor Voter Law? What is its purpose?3. (a) Why do election officials keep poll books? (b) Why is it

a good idea to purge them every few years?4. How was the poll tax used as a voting qualification?

Critical Thinking5. Drawing Conclusions (a) Do you think that one must be

able to read in order to be a well-informed voter? Why orwhy not? (b) Do you think literacy is more or less importantnow than it was 100 years ago?

6. Recognizing Bias What were grandfather clauses? Howdid they discriminate against African Americans?

PHSchool.com

For: An activity on voter registration requirements

Web Code: mqd-2062


PHSchool.com



PHSchool.com


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The Dangers of Voter ApathyFocus Prior to reading the excerpt,ask students to identify reasons whyvoter participation has declined inrecent years. As students provideanswers, write them on the chalk-board.Instruct Ask students to read theexcerpt and analyze Gans’s reasoning.Call on students to identify causes ofvoter apathy identified by Gans.Then have them write a reply toGans stating whether they agree ordisagree with his reasoning andexplaining why. Encourage volun-teers to share their replies with theclass.Close/Reteach Ask students to com-pare the reasons they gave for voterapathy to the reasons that Gans sug-gested. Then have students identifyany additional causes of voter apathythat they can.

Keep It Current CD-ROM includesgovernment-related projects

by unit. The CD-ROM links to thePrentice Hall School Web site andmay be used for daily updates.

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Answers to . . .Analyzing Primary Sources1. Voter participation declined by20 percent.2. People are either dropping outor failing to enter the politicalprocess because they hold negativeattitudes toward government andpoliticians.3. Improving civic education, mak-ing the two-party system more rel-evant to the needs of the electorate,and instilling values in young peoplethat encourage a sense of communityand concern for the future.4. Answers will vary, but studentsshould recognize that candidateselected by a small minority of eli-gible voters may not represent thewill of the majority, which poses athreat to democratic government.

Close Up on Primary Sources Voter RegistrationReform, p. 8, extends this feature with a primarysource activity.

Corner


www.closeup.org

The Dangers of Voter Apathy

on Primary Sources

Curtis Gans directs the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, a non-partisan research organization that studies the causes of declining voter participationand looks for solutions. Here, Gans discusses low voter turnout and what can be doneto reverse the trend.

Sadly, for the average citizen,nonparticipation is becoming anincreasingly rational act. Reversingthis trend and instilling both hopeand vigor among American voterswill not be an easy task. But I thinka few steps will improve participa-tion in America. For example, weneed to increase the amount andsophistication of civic education inour homes and schools. We must

also develop policies that address the central con-cerns of the electorate, while realigning and strength-ening the two-party system. . . . It is important for usto instill in our young people a sense of values thatemphasizes something larger than the self.

In the end, voting is a religious act. Each citizenmust come to believe that—despite the thousandsof elections that are not decided by one vote—hisor her vote does make a difference. It is that faiththat needs to be restored.

Over [recent decades], the per-centage of eligible Americanswho vote has declined by 20

percent in both presidential andoff-year elections. More than 20million Americans who used tovote frequently have ceased partic-ipating altogether. The UnitedStates—with voter turnouts ofaround 50 percent in presidentialelections and 35 percent in off-yearelections—now has the lowest rate of voter partici-pation of any democracy in the world.

More than half of America’s nonparticipants arechronic nonvoters: people who have never voted orhardly ever vote, whose families have never voted,and who are poorer, less-educated, and less-involvedparticipants in American society. But a growingnumber of Americans are simply dropping out of thepolitical process—many of whom are educated,white-collar professionals. In addition, a growingnumber of younger Americans are failing to enter thepolitical process. Both of these trends constitute amajor national concern, for there is a very real dan-ger that the habits of good citizenship will die and thatgovernment of the people, for the people, and by thepeople will become government of, for, and by thefew. . . .

The scars of the Vietnam War and the Watergatescandal run deep. To many Americans, politicsseem to be characterized by poor public leadership,increasingly complex issues, and ever-growing andinflexible government with few successes in meetingpublic needs. . . .

What does the cartoon suggest about voter apathy?

on Primary Sources

Analyzing Primary Sources1. How much has voter participation declined in

recent decades?2. What reasons does Gans give to explain the

decline in voter participation?3. What suggestions does Gans give for increasing

voter participation?4. Why should we be concerned about the declining

rate of voter participation in the United States?

MAG05_NA_TE_CH06_PS 12/30/05 3:20 PM Page 158

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Objectives You may wish to callstudents’ attention to the objectivesin the Section Preview. The objectivesare reflected in the main headings ofthe section.Bellringer Ask students whetherthey have ever crossed a city streetagainst the light or outside of acrosswalk, and if they have ever beenfined for doing so. Tell them thatmany cities and larger towns havejaywalking laws, but they are oftennot rigorously enforced. Explain thatin this section, they will learn abouta constitutional amendment that wasnot enforced for nearly a century.Vocabulary Builder Draw anabsurdly irregular shape on theboard. Tell students that this shapeshows the boundaries of a congres-sional district. Ask them which termin the Political Dictionary names aprocedure that could result in a dis-trict with this shape.

Suffrage and CivilRights3

159


Consider these suggestions to manage extendedclass time:! Have students write an editorial that couldhave appeared in the 1950s or early 1960s,condemning the 15th Amendment’s lack ofenforcement. Editorials should include specificexamples of discrimination against AfricanAmericans, as described in the section. Havestudents share their editorials with the class.

! Divide the class into small groups. Providegroups with several scenarios involving discrimi-nation. Then have students determine whethereach would be legal, using the civil rights orvoting rights legislation described in this section.Ask each group to present its reasoning to therest of the class.


Lesson Plan

1. Focus Tell students that the 15thAmendment was ratified in 1870 butwas not truly effective until 1965.Ask them to discuss what they knowabout the amendment and the lawsthat eventually gave it some force.2. Instruct Ask students how someStates used gerrymandering to getaround the provisions of the 15thAmendment. Discuss this and othersimilar tactics and the laws thateventually arose to combat them.3. Close/Reteach Remind studentsthat the 15th Amendment gave AfricanAmericans the right to vote—in theory.Ask students how the Voting Rights Acthelped turn that theory into practice.

HH ow important is the right to vote? For thosewho do not have it, that right can seem as

important as life itself. Indeed, in the Deep Southof the 1960s, civil rights workers suffered arrest,beatings, shocks with electric cattle prods, evendeath—all in the name of the right to vote. Theirefforts inspired the nation and led to large-scalefederal efforts to secure suffrage for AfricanAmericans and other minority groups in theUnited States.

The Fifteenth AmendmentThe effort to extend the franchise to AfricanAmericans began with the 15th Amendment,which was ratified in 1870. It declares that theright to vote cannot be denied to any citizen ofthe United States because of race, color, or previ-ous condition of servitude. The amendment wasplainly intended to ensure that African Americanmen, nearly all of them former slaves and nearlyall of them living in the South, could vote.

The 15th Amendment is not self-executing,however. In other words, simply stating a generalprinciple without providing for a means toenforce implementation was not enough to carryout the intention of the amendment. To make iteffective, Congress had to act. Yet for almost 90 years the Federal Government paid littleattention to voting rights for African Americans.

During that period, African Americans weregenerally and systematically kept from the polls

in much of the South. White supremacistsemployed a number of tactics to that end. Theirmajor weapon was violence. Other tacticsincluded more subtle threats and social pres-sures, such as firing an African American manwho tried to register or vote, or denying hisfamily credit at local stores.

More formal “legal” devices were used, aswell. The most effective were literacy tests.White officials regularly manipulated these teststo disenfranchise African American citizens.

Registration laws served the same end. Aswritten, they applied to all potential voters. Inpractice, however, they were often administeredto keep African Americans from qualifying tovote. Poll taxes, “white primaries,” gerryman-dering, and several other devices were also regu-larly used to disenfranchise African Americans.Gerrymandering is the practice of drawing elec-toral district lines (the boundaries of the geo-graphic area from which a candidate is electedto a public office) in order to limit the votingstrength of a particular group or party.

The white primary arose out of thedecades-long Democratic domina-tion of politics in the South. Itwas almost a given that theDemocratic candidate for an

Suffrage and Civil Rights

Objectives

1. Describe the 15th Amendment and thetactics used to circumvent it in an effort todeny African Americans the vote.

2. Explain the significance of the early civilrights legislation passed in 1957, 1960,and 1964.

3. Analyze the provisions and effects of theVoting Rights Act of 1965.

Why It Matters

The 15th Amendment declared that the rightto vote cannot be denied on account of race.Nevertheless, a variety of tactics were usedin southern States to disenfranchise AfricanAmericans. The Supreme Court struck downa number of these efforts, and, beginning inthe 1950s, Congress passed laws to protectminority voting rights.

PoliticalDictionary" gerrymandering" injunction" preclearance

! An African American womanregisters to vote.



159

Reading StrategySelf-MonitoringTell students that they will be readingabout a number of laws enacted toprotect minority voting rights. Someof the laws are complex. Suggest thatstudents ask themselves, as they read,whether the material makes sense tothem. If not, they should reread thepassage or read ahead a little to seeif their confusion is cleared up.

The EnduringConstitution

Government by the PeopleThe 26th Amendment, granting 18-year-olds the right to vote, was ratifiedon July 1, 1971. Much of the supportfor the amendment grew out of thecivil rights and antiwar protest move-ments of the era. Many young peopleobjected to the fact that they wereold enough to fight and die in theVietnam War, but not old enough touse the ballot box to voice their opin-ions on international and domesticissues.

Using the Time LineHistorians argue that the spread ofdemocracy has not been automatic,but has depended on the activedemands of those excluded fromparticipating in the political process.Review and discuss some of the civilrights struggles that brought aboutthe voting reforms shown on thetime line, such as woman suffrage.Then explore some of the waysyoung people can participate in thepolitical process. Point out thatmore information about the expan-sion of suffrage in the United Statesis available at PHSchool.com


The Enduring Constitution Twoextension activities for this timeline can be found on pp. 11–12.

Basic Principles of the ConstitutionTransparencies Transparency 2, TheEnduring Constitution: ExpandingSuffrage

160


Have students read the passages under The Fifteenth Amendment on pp. 159–160 and then answer the question below.Why was the 15th Amendment ineffective for decades in ensuring the rightof African Americans to vote?A Congress did nothing to implement it.B Its wording was unclear and confusing.C African Americans did not exercise their right to vote.D Supreme Court decisions weakened the amendment.

Preparing for Standardized Tests

Led by these decisions of the Supreme Court,the lower federal courts struck down many ofthe practices designed to disenfranchise AfricanAmericans in the 1940s and 1950s. Still, thecourts could act only when those who claimedto be victims of discrimination sued. That case-by-case method was, at best, agonizingly slow.

Finally, and largely in response to the civilrights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr., Congress was moved to act. It has passed sev-eral civil rights laws since the late 1950s. Thosestatutes contain a number of sections specificallyintended to implement the 15th Amendment.

Early Civil Rights LegislationThe first law passed by Congress to implementthe 15th Amendment was the Civil Rights Actof 1957, which set up the United States CivilRights Commission. One of the Commission’smajor duties is to inquire into claims of voterdiscrimination. The Commission reports itsfindings to Congress and the President and,through the media, to the public. The Act alsogave the attorney general the power to seekfederal court orders to prevent interferencewith any person’s right to vote in any federalelection.

office would be elected. Therefore, almostalways, it was only the Democrats who nomi-nated candidates, generally in primaries. Inseveral southern States, political parties weredefined by law as “private associations.” Assuch, they could exclude whomever they chose,and the Democrats regularly refused to admitAfrican Americans. Because only party memberscould vote in the party’s primary, AfricanAmericans were then excluded from a criticalstep in the public election process.

The Supreme Court finally outlawed the whiteprimary in a case from Texas, Smith v. Allwright,1944. The Court held that nominations are anintegral part of the election process. Conse-quently, when a political party holds a primaryit is performing a public function and it is, there-fore, bound by the terms of the 15th Amendment.

The Supreme Court outlawed gerrymanderingwhen used for purposes of racial discriminationin a case from Alabama, Gomillion v. Lightfoot,in 1960. In this case, the Alabama legislaturehad redrawn the electoral district boundaries ofTuskegee, effectively excluding all blacks fromthe city limits. The Court ruled that the legisla-ture’s act violated the 15th Amendment becausethe irregularly shaped district clearly was createdto deprive blacks of political power.

When the Constitution was written, only whitemale property owners could vote. Over time, theUnited States has become more and more demo-cratic. The major features of that evolution arechronicled in this time line.

1900

187015th Amendment—

designed mainly to give formerslaves the right to vote—

protects the voting right of adultmale citizens of every race.

191317th Amendmentcalls for members ofthe U.S. Senate to beelected directly bythe people instead ofby State legislatures.

Government by the PeopleGovernment by the People

The EnduringConstitution

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Use Web Code mqp-2067 toregister your vote on thisissue and to see how otherstudents voted.


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Have students review the section andwrite ten true-or-false questions aboutsection content. Students shouldthen exchange their questions with apartner and answer them.SN






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Answers to . . .Analyzing Time Lines 1. The 15th,19th, and 26th Amendments 2. The general trend has beentoward a more democratic politi-cal system, or government by thepeople.

Background NoteCommon MisconceptionsContrary to popular belief, the UnitedStates was hardly a world leader ingranting women suffrage. By the timethe 19th Amendment was ratified in1920, fully 15 other countries hadalready extended voting rights towomen. The first of these countries,New Zealand, beat the United States byalmost four decades.

The Civil Rights Act of 1960 added anadditional safeguard. It provided for theappointment of federal voting referees. Theseofficers were to serve anywhere a federal courtfound voter discrimination. They were giventhe power to help qualified persons to registerand vote in federal elections.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is much broaderand much more effective than either of the twoearlier measures. It outlaws discrimination inseveral areas, especially in job-related matters.With regard to voting rights, its most impor-tant section forbids the use of any voter regis-tration or literacy requirement in an unfair ordiscriminatory manner.

The 1964 law continued a pattern set in theearlier laws. In major part, it relied on judicialaction to overcome racial barriers and empha-sized the use of federal court orders called injunc-tions. An injunction is a court order that eithercompels (forces) or restrains (limits) the perfor-mance of some act by a private individual or by apublic official. The violation of an injunctionamounts to contempt of court, a crime punishableby fine and/or imprisonment.

Dramatic events in Selma, Alabama, soonpointed up the shortcomings of this approach.Dr. King mounted a voter registration drive inthat city in early 1965. He and his supportershoped that they could focus national attentionon the issue of African American voting rights—and they most certainly did.

Their registration efforts were met withinsults and violence by local white civilians, bycity and county police, and then by State troop-ers. Two civil rights workers were murdered,and many were beaten when they attempted apeaceful march to the State capitol. The nationsaw much of the drama on television and wasshocked. An outraged President Lyndon Johnsonurged Congress to pass new and stronger legis-lation to ensure the voting rights of AfricanAmericans. Congress responded quickly.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965The Voting Rights Act of 1965 made the 15thAmendment, at long last, a truly effective part ofthe Constitution. Unlike its predecessors, this actapplied to all elections held anywhere in thiscountry—State and local, as well as federal.

Originally, the Voting Rights Act was to bein effect for a period of five years. Congress has

1925

192019th Amendment guarantees Americanwomen the right to votein all elections.

197126th Amendmentsets the minimumvoting age at 18.

1924Indian Citizenship Act grants allNative Americans the rights ofcitizenship, including the right tovote in federal elections.

196424th Amendment banspoll tax as requirement

for voting in federalelections.

1995Federal “Motor Voter Law”

takes effect, making it easier to register to

vote.

1950 1975 2000

Analyzing Time Lines1. Which amendments have granted voting rights to specific groups of people?2. What has been the general trend of constitutional changes related to voting?

1965Voting Rights Act protects the

rights of minority voters and eliminates voting barriers such as the literacy test.

Expanded and renewed in 1970,1975, and 1982.

2003Federal Voting Standards

and Procedures Act requires States to stream-

line registration, voting, and other election procedures.

L1


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Close Up on Primary SourcesSeneca Falls Declaration (1848), p. 37;Lucy Stone’s Letter to the New JerseyTax Collector (1858), p. 38; CivilRights Act (1964), p. 46; VotingRights Act (1965), p. 47

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Background NoteRecent ScholarshipHow did international affairs influencethe civil rights movement? Thisprovocative question is examined andanswered in University of SouthernCalifornia law professor MaryDudziak’s book Cold War Civil Rights:Race and the Image of AmericanDemocracy. Dudziak maintains thatthe civil rights movement was intri-cately bound up with the Cold War,and that the relationship between thetwo was not always forthright. Theauthor argues that while the UnitedStates was presenting itself to theworld as the model of human rightsand democracy, it was simultaneouslydenying civil rights to a large portionof its population. This hypocriticalstance caused a strain in foreign rela-tions, which led politicians to press forsome civil rights reforms. The empha-sis was on appearance rather thanactual change, however, so the paceof reform was slow and uneven.Dudziak’s premise is an interestingone, and sheds new light on both theCold War and civil rights.

Answer to . . .Interpreting Graphs About 1.7 mil-lion new African American votersregistered.

(1) the location of polling places;(2) the boundaries of election districts;(3) deadlines in the election process;(4) from ward or district election to at-large

elections;(5) the qualifications candidates must meet in

order to run for office.Any State or county subject to the voter-

examiner and preclearance provisions can beremoved from the law’s coverage through a“bail-out” process. That relief can come if theState can show the United States District Courtin the District of Columbia that it has notapplied any voting procedures in a discrimina-tory way for at least 10 years.

The voter-examiner and preclearance provi-sions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act originallyapplied to six entire States: Alabama, Georgia,Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, andVirginia. The act also applied to 40 NorthCarolina counties.

The Supreme Court upheld the Voting RightsAct in 1966. In the case of South Carolina v.Katzenbach, a unanimous Court found the lawto be a proper exercise of the power granted toCongress in Section 2 of the 15th Amendment.That provision authorizes Congress to use‘appropriate’ measures to enforce the constitu-tional prohibition against racial discriminationin voting.

Amendments to the ActThe 1970 amendments extended the law foranother five years. The 1968 elections were addedto the law’s triggering formula; the result was that

extended its life three times, in the VotingRights Act Amendments of 1970, 1975, andmost recently 1982. The present version of the law was made effective for 25 years; itsprovisions are scheduled to expire in 2007.

The 1965 law directed the attorney general tochallenge the constitutionality of the remainingState poll-tax laws in the federal courts. Thatprovision led directly to Harper v. Virginia Boardof Elections, in 1966 (see page 157).

The law also suspended the use of any literacytest or similar device in any State or countywhere less than half of the electorate had beenregistered or had voted in the 1964 presidentialelection. The law authorized the attorney generalto appoint voting examiners to serve in any ofthose States or counties. It also gave these federalofficers the power to register voters and otherwiseoversee the conduct of elections in those areas.

PreclearanceThe Voting Rights Act of 1965 created a furtherrestriction on those States where a majority ofthe electorate had not voted in 1964. The actdeclared that no new election laws, and nochanges in existing election laws, could go intoeffect in any of those States unless first approved—given preclearance—by the Department ofJustice. Only those new or revised laws that donot “dilute” (weaken) the voting rights of minor-ity groups can survive the preclearance process.

The preclearance hurdle has produced a largenumber of court cases since the passage of thelaw. Those cases show that the laws most likelyto run afoul of the preclearance requirement arethose that make these kinds of changes:

Southern Black Voters, 1960–1970

SOURCE: Historical Statistics of Black America

4

3

2

1

0

Num

ber r

egis

tere

d(in

mill

ions

)

Year1960 1964 1966 1968 1970

Interpreting Graphs In the photo at left, civil rights demonstratorsrisk injury and even death in the 1965 Selma march for votingrights. How many new African American voters registered inthe South between 1960 and 1970?


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Close Up on Primary SourcesMartin Luther King, Jr., “I Have aDream” Speech (1963), p. 45




Answers to . . .

Section 3 Assessment1. Gerrymandering is the practice ofdrawing electoral district lines tofavor a particular party; other devicesincluded violence, social pressures,literacy tests, and poll taxes.2. The 1964 law encouraged injunc-tions, court orders that force orrestrain a particular action.3. Preclearance is prior approval by the Department of Justice for achange to a law; States can bail outby showing that they have not applieddiscriminatory voting practices for atleast 10 years.4. (a) The Civil Rights Act of 1957;the Civil Rights Act of 1960; andthe Civil Rights Act of 1964. (b)1957: Set up the U.S. Civil RightsCommission; 1960: Provided for theappointment of federal voting refer-ees; 1964: Outlawed discriminationin several areas and encouraged useof injunctions.5. (a) That despite the 15thAmendment, most Americans still didnot believe that African Americansdeserved equality when it came tovoting rights. (b) The civil rightsmovement as well as a growing publicawareness of violence against AfricanAmericans brought about change.

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6. Possible answers: (a) It meant thatCongress was made up of people whodid not represent all Americans andin many cases were not sympatheticto the plight of African Americans.(b) It reduced the likelihood of gettingcivil rights legislation passed.

Key Terms and Main Ideas1. What is gerrymandering? What other devices were used to

disenfranchise African Americans?2. What part do injunctions play in the Civil Rights Act of 1964?3. What is preclearance? How can a State “bail out” of the

preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?4. (a) Identify the major civil rights laws enacted since 1950.

(b) Describe voting rights provisions in these laws.

Critical Thinking5. Drawing Conclusions Even after the ratification of the 15th

Amendment, African Americans in the South were denied theright to vote because the amendment was not implemented.(a) What does that tell you about American attitudes from1870 until the 1950s? (b) Why did those attitudes change?

6. Recognizing Cause and Effect (a) How do you think thehistorical denial of voting rights to African Americans affectedthe makeup of Congress and many State legislatures? (b) How did that result, in turn, affect the likelihood thatthese legislatures would pass civil rights laws?

a number of counties in six more States (Alaska,Arizona, California, Idaho, New Mexico, andOregon) were added to the law’s coverage.

The 1970 law also provided that, for fiveyears, no State could use literacy as the basisfor any voting requirement. That temporaryban as well as residence provisions outlined inthe law were upheld by the Supreme Court inOregon v. Mitchell in 1970.

In 1975, the law was extended again, this timefor seven years, and the five-year ban on literacytests was made permanent. Since 1975, no Statehas been able to apply any sort of literacy qualifi-cation to any aspect of the election process.

The law’s voter-examiner and preclearanceprovisions were also broadened in 1975. Sincethen they have also covered any State or countywhere more than 5 percent of the voting-agepopulation belongs to certain “language minori-ties.” These groups are defined to include allpersons of Spanish heritage, Native Americans,Asian Americans, and Alaskan Natives.

This addition expanded the law’s coverageto all of Alaska and Texas and to severalcounties in 24 other States, as well. In theseareas, all ballots and other official electionmaterials must be printed both in English andin the language of the minority, or minorities,involved.

The 1982 amendments extended the basicfeatures of the act for another 25 years. In1992 the law’s language-minority provisions

! I Have a Dream This famous speech, delivered by civil rights leaderMartin Luther King, Jr., was a highlight of the 1963 March on Washington,which drew more than 200,000 people.

were revised: they now apply to any communitythat has a minority-language population of10,000 or more persons.

Over the years, several States and a handfulof counties in a few other States have beenremoved from the law’s coverage, through the“bail-out” process. Today, eight entire Statesremain subject to the Voting Rights Act:Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana,Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. At leastsome counties in eight other States are also cov-ered by the statute: California, Florida,Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, NorthCarolina, South Dakota, and Virginia.

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Web Code: mqd-2063


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Objectives You may wish to callstudents’ attention to the objectivesin the Section Preview. The objectivesare reflected in the main headings ofthe section.Bellringer Ask students whether theyhave ever tried to avoid going to afamily event. Have two or three stu-dents explain why. Tell students thatin this section, they will read aboutwhy many Americans refuse to attendone of the most important communityand national events—elections.Vocabulary Builder Tell students thatmost of the terms in the PoliticalDictionary contain words they recog-nize that can help them figure out themeaning of the whole phrase. Startwith off-year election. Think the termthrough, aloud. (“I know the mean-ing of election. Off-year suggeststhat there’s an on-year—what wouldthat be?”) Have students use the sameapproach with the other terms.

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Consider these suggestions to manage extendedclass time:! Divide the class into groups of four to six stu-dents. Assign groups the task of creating a publicservice announcement that encourages people tovote. Working together, students should write aone-minute television advertisement that couldbe aired to the national public during an electionyear. Encourage group members to discuss thevarious groups of people they wish to “target”with their ad. Each group should present their

work to the class. Students can vote on the mosteffective advertisement.! Have students create a fictional person (theymight want to start with a magazine photo), forwhom they identify the following factors: Age,sex, religion, race, region, income, education,occupation, and marital status. Have each stu-dent present his or her person to the class, andthen have the class determine how the personwould most likely vote.


Voter Behavior4

Lesson Plan

1. Focus Tell students that there aremillions of Americans who could votebut do not. Ask students to discusswhat they know about why people donot vote.2. Instruct Have students namethree reasons that Americans whocould vote do not vote. Briefly dis-cuss how valid these reasons are,and then explore the various factorsthat influence voter behavior.3. Close/Reteach Remind studentsthat the problem of low voter turnoutis serious. Ask them to create a formfor analyzing voter behavior. The formshould ask voters and nonvoters forinformation related to all the factorsthat affect voting.

Voter Behavior

Objectives

1. Examine the problem of nonvoting in thiscountry, and describe the size of the problem.

2. Identify people who do not vote.3. Examine the behavior of those who vote and

those who do not.4. Understand the sociological and psychologi-

cal factors that affect voting and how theywork together to influence voter behavior.

Why It Matters

Low voter turnout is a serious problemin this country. Among those who dovote, sociological and psychologicalfactors work together to influence voterbehavior over time and in particularelections.

PoliticalDictionary! off-year election! political efficacy! political socialization! gender gap! party identification! straight-ticket voting! split-ticket voting! independent

The Size of the ProblemThe table on page 165 lays out the major factsof the nonvoter problem in American elections.Notice that on election day in 2004 there werean estimated 215.7 million persons of voting agein the United States. Yet only some 122.3 millionof them—only 56.7 percent—actually voted inthe presidential election. Nearly 95 million per-sons who might have voted did not.

In 2004 some 114 million votes were cast inthe elections held across the country to fill the435 seats in the House of Representatives. Thatmeans that only 53 percent of the electoratevoted in those congressional elections. (Noticethe even lower rates of turnout in the off-yearelections—that is, in the congressional electionsheld in the even-numbered years between pres-idential elections.)

Several facets of the nonvoter problem arenot very widely known. Take, for example, thisstriking fact: There are millions of nonvotersamong those who vote. Look again at the 2004figures on page 165. Nearly eight million per-sons who voted in the last presidential electioncould also have voted for a congressional candi-date, but they did not choose to do so.

“Nonvoting voters” are not limited to federalelections. In fact, they are much more common inState and local elections. As a general rule, thefarther down the ballot an office is, the fewer the

““YY our vote is your voice. Use it.” That’sthe advice of Rock the Vote, an orga-

nization that encourages young voters ages18–25 to participate in the election process. Inthe United States, and in other democraticcountries, we believe in all voices being heard.That is, we believe in voting.

Over the next several pages you will look atvoter behavior in this country—at who votesand who does not, and at why those peoplewho do vote, vote as they do.

NonvotersThe word idiot came to our language fromthe Greek. In ancient Athens, idiots (idiotes)were those citizens who did not vote or oth-erwise take part in public life.

Tens of millions of Americans vote in presidential and congressional elections; inState elections; and in city, county, and otherpublic elections. Still, there are many millionsof other Americans who, for one reason oranother, do not vote. There are some quitelegitimate reasons for not voting, as you will see. But this troubling fact remains: Most of the millions of Americans whocould—but do not—go to the polls cannotclaim any of those justifications. Indeed, theywould have been called idiots in the Greece of2000 years ago.



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Reading StrategyOrganizing Information/OutlineAsk students to copy down the mainheadings and subheadings in outlineform, leaving space for details. Havethem fill in the details as they readthe section.







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To make sure students understand the mainpoints of this section, you may wish to use theVenn diagram to the right.

Tell students that a Venn diagram can be usedto compare two groups by showing the charac-teristics they have alone and those they share.Have students use the Venn diagram to comparevoters and nonvoters. Characteristics thesegroups share should appear in the space wherethe circles overlap.



Answers to . . .Interpreting Tables 1968; 1968

number of votes that will be cast for it. This phe-nomenon is sometimes called “ballot fatigue.”The expression suggests that many voters exhausttheir patience and/or their knowledge as theywork their way down the ballot.

Some quick examples illustrate the phenome-non of ballot fatigue: In every State, more votesare regularly cast in the presidential election thanin the gubernatorial election. More votes are gen-erally cast for the governorship than for otherStatewide offices, such as lieutenant governor orsecretary of state. More voters in a county usuallyvote in the races for Statewide offices than votein the contests for such county offices as sheriff,county clerk, or district attorney, and so on.

There are other little-recognized facets ofthe nonvoter problem, too. For example, thetable on this page shows that turnout in con-gressional elections is consistently higher inpresidential years than it is in off-year elec-tions. That same pattern holds among theStates in terms of the types of elections; morepeople vote in general elections than in eitherprimary or special elections.

Why People Do Not VoteWhy do we have so many nonvoters? Why, evenin a presidential election, do as many as half ofthose who could vote stay away from the polls?

Clearly, the time that it takes to vote shouldnot be a significant part of the answer. For mostpeople, it takes more time to go to a video storeand pick out a movie than it does to go to theirneighborhood polling place and cast a ballot. Sowe must look elsewhere for answers.

“Cannot-Voters”To begin with, look at another of those little-recognized aspects of the nonvoter problem.Several million persons who are regularlyidentified as nonvoters can be much more accu-rately described as “cannot-voters.” That is,although it is true that they do not vote, the factis that they cannot do so.

The 2004 data support the point. Included inthat figure of nearly 95 million who did notvote in the last presidential election are at least10 million who are resident aliens. Remember,they are barred from the polls in every State.

Year Population of Votes Cast Votes Cast forVoting Age1 for President U.S. Representatives

(in millions) (in millions) (percent) (in millions) (percent)

Voter Turnout, 1968–2004

1968 120.285 73.212 60.9 66.288 55.11970 124.498 — — 54.173 43.51972 140.777 77.719 55.2 71.430 50.71974 146.388 — — 52.495 35.91976 152.308 81.556 53.5 74.422 48.91978 158.369 — — 55.332 34.91980 163.945 86.515 52.8 77.995 47.61982 169.643 — — 64.514 38.01984 173.995 92.653 53.3 83.231 47.81986 177.922 — — 59.619 33.51988 181.956 91.595 50.3 81.786 44.91990 185.812 — — 61.513 33.11992 189.524 104.425 55.1 96.239 50.81994 193.650 — — 70.781 36.61996 196.507 96.278 49.0 89.863 45.81998 200.929 — — 66.033 33.92000 205.813 105.397 51.2 99.457 48.42002 210.321 — — 73.844 35.2

2004 215.694 122.295 56.7 114.414 53.01As estimated by Census Bureau. Population 18 years of age and over since ratification of 26th Amendment in 1971; prior to 1971, 21 years and over in all States, except: 18 years and over in Georgia since 1943 and Kentucky since 1955, 19 years and over in Alaska and 20 and over in Hawaii since 1959.

SOURCES: Statistical Abstract of the United States; Federal Election Commission

Interpreting Tables This table shows voter turnout two ways: totalnumbers and percent of eligible voters.(a) In what year showndid voting percentage peak for presidential races? (b) In whatyear did voting peak for congressional races?

Another 5 to 6 million citizens were so ill orotherwise physically disabled that they simplycould not vote in an election. An additional 2 or 3 million persons were traveling suddenlyand unexpectedly, and so could not vote.

Other groups of cannot-voters can be dis-covered in the nonvoting group. They includesome 500,000 persons in mental health carefacilities or under some other form of legalrestraint because of their mental condition;more than two million adults in jails and pris-ons; and perhaps as many as 100,000 who donot (cannot) vote because of their religiousbeliefs (for example, those who believe thatacts such as voting amount to idolatry).


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Background NoteGlobal AwarenessLow voter turnouts is an internationalproblem. Leaders around the worldhave debated various tactics to reme-dy the situation. In some, lawmakerstook a giant step—moving voting froma right to an obligation—by makingvoting compulsory. One such countryis Australia, where nonvoting results ina fine of approximately $14. This lawhas been on the books in Australiasince 1924, and in most recent elections there, voter turnout wasabout 95 percent.

Have students read the passages under Factors Affecting Turnout and thenanswer the question below.Which of the following is described in the text as the main reason whypeople fail to vote?A bad weatherB “time-zone fallout”C lack of interestD cumbersome election procedures

Preparing for Standardized Tests

Answer to . . .Interpreting Political CartoonsNonvoters outweigh the voters,suggesting that their refusal to votehas a huge impact on elections.

either fear or scorn “the system.” To them,elections are meaningless, choiceless exercises.

Another large group of nonvoters is com-posed of people who have no sense of politicalefficacy. They lack any feeling of influence oreffectiveness in politics. They do not believethat they or their votes can have any realimpact on what government does.

Other Factors Affecting TurnoutOther factors also affect whether votersshow up at the polls. Cumbersome electionprocedures—for example, inconvenient reg-istration requirements, long ballots, andlong lines at polling places—discourage vot-ers from turning out on election day. Badweather also tends to discourage turnout.

Another possible, though hotly debated,factor is the so-called “time-zone fallout”

problem. This refers to the fact that, in presi-dential elections, polls in States in the Easternand Central time zones close before polls inStates in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.Based on early returns from the East andMidwest, the news media often project the out-come of the presidential contest before all thevoters in the West have gone to the polls. Somepeople fear that such reports have discouragedwestern voters from casting their ballots.

Of all the reasons that may be cited, however,the chief cause for nonvoting is, purely andsimply, a lack of interest. Those who lack suffi-cient interest, who are indifferent and apathetic,and who just cannot be bothered are usuallywoefully uninformed. Most often, they do notknow even the simplest facts about the candidates and issues involved in an election.

Comparing Voters and NonvotersOne useful way to get a handle on the problem ofnonvoting is to contrast those persons who tendto go to the polls regularly with those who do not.There are many differences between them.

The people most likely to vote display suchcharacteristics as higher levels of income, education, and occupational status. They areusually well integrated into community life.They tend to be long-time residents who areactive in or at least comfortable with theirsurroundings. They are likely to have a strongsense of party identification and to believe

Racial, religious, and other biases still play apart here, too—despite the many laws, courtdecisions, and enforcement actions of the pastseveral years aimed at eliminating such discrim-ination in the political process. An unknownbut certainly significant number of people couldnot vote in 2004 because of (1) the purposefuladministration of election laws to keep themfrom doing so and/or (2) various “informal”local pressures applied to that same end.

Actual NonvotersEven so, there are millions of actual nonvotersin the United States. Thus, in 2004 more than80 million Americans who could have voted inthe presidential election did not.

There are any number of reasons for thatbehavior. As a leading example: Many whocould go to the polls do not because they areconvinced that it makes little real differencewho wins a particular election.

That fairly large group includes two verydifferent groups of nonvoters. On the onehand, it includes many who generally approveof the way the public’s business is being man-aged—that is, many who believe that no matterwho wins an election, things will continue togo well for themselves and for the country.

On the other hand, that group also includesmany people who feel alienated—many whodeliberately refuse to vote because they don’ttrust political institutions and processes. They

Interpreting Political Cartoons What does the “weight” of the nonvoters tellyou about the kind of difference they are making?

Background NoteDisenfranchisement andVoter SuppressionElection Protection is a coalition ofvoter advocacy groups. Its membersinclude the American Civil LibertiesUnion, Common Cause, theCongressional Black Caucus, theLeague of Women Voters, the NAACP,and Rock the Vote, to name just a few.A report released by ElectionProtection following the 2004 presi-dential election cited over 39,000reported problems faced by voter.They included long lines. Voters whohad registered by the deadline butwere not on voter rolls, and registra-tion cards listing incorrect pollingplaces. Thousands of people com-plained that they did not receive theirabsentee ballots in time to vote. Voterintimidation was also reported, signal-ing to many observers that the elec-toral system is in need of further security and reform.


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Have students use the data in thetable on this page to create severalcircle graphs for a year of their choice.Graphs should reflect the followingdata for the year they chose: Nationalvote by sex, age, education, race,religion, politics, and region. Afterstudents have finished, ask them tocompare their sets of data and drawhistorical conclusions. GT

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Magruder’s American Government Video Collection

The Magruder’s Video Collection explores keyissues and debates in American government. Eachsegment examines an issue central to chaptercontent through use of historical and contempo-rary footage. Commentary from civic leaders inacademics, government, and the media followeach segment. Critical thinking questions focusstudents’ attention on key issues, and may beused to stimulate discussion.

Use the Chapter 6 video segment to explore howInternet voting will affect politics and representativegovernment. (time: 5 minutes) This segment high-lights Internet voting in the presidential primariesin Arizona and Internet voting by overseas militarypersonnel in the 2000 general primaries.

Box HeadSpotlight on TechnologySpotlight on Technology

Background NoteWashington, D.C.—A NewElectorate For nearly 200 years, the citizens ofWashington, D.C. comprised a largegroup of nonvoters, but not by choice.From the founding of the city in 1800,it was assumed that it would be theseat of government, not a residentialcity with a large population. Because it was designated a federal district,rather than a State, citizens had novoting rights in federal elections. At itsfounding the population of the districtwas only 5000, but by 1900, it hadincreased to over a quarter of a millionpeople. By 1960, the population hadgrown to over three quarters of amillion people—all of whom did nothave the right to vote, though they didhave the “rights” to pay taxes andserve in the military. The 23rdAmendment, ratified on March 29, 1961,conferred on Washington, D.C. citizensthe right to vote. It did not, however,provide the district with full representa-tion in Congress.

Answer to . . .Interpreting Tables Nonwhites, whohave consistently voted Democratic.

that voting is an important act. They also are likely to live in those areas where laws,customs, and competition between the partiesall promote turnout.

The opposite characteristics produce a pro-file of those less likely to vote. Nonvoters arelikely to be younger than age 35, unmarried,and unskilled. More nonvoters live in the Southand in rural, rather than urban or suburban,locales. Today, women are more likely to votethan men. This fact of political life has beenapparent since the presidential elections of the1980s and was reconfirmed in 2004.

A few of the factors that help determinewhether or not a person will vote are so importantthat they influence turnout even when they are notsupported by, or are in conflict with, other factors.Thus, those persons with a high sense of politicalefficacy are likely to vote—no matter what theirincome, education, age, race, and so on.

The degree of two-party competition hasmuch the same kind of general, across-the-boardeffect. It, too, has an extraordinary impact onparticipation. Thus, the greater the competitionbetween candidates, the more likely people willbe to go to the polls, regardless of other factors.

Interpreting Tables Some groups of voters have favored one or the other major party overtime. In this table, which group most clearly demonstrates that point?

1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 D R D R D R I D R D R D R I D R P D R G D R 37.5 60.7 50 48 41 50.7 6.6 41 59 46 54 43.2 37.8 19 49.2 40.7 8.4 48.7 48.6 2.7 48.3 50.7

37 63 53 45 38 53 7 36 64 44 56 41 37 22 45 44 11 43 52 3 44 56 38 62 48 51 44 49 6 45 55 48 52 46 38 16 54 39 7 53 45 2 52 48

32 68 46 52 36 56 7 34 66 41 59 39 41 20 46 45 9 43 55 3 43 57 87 13 85 15 86 10 2 87 13 82 18 77 11 12 82 12 6 87 9 4 83 17

37 63 42 55 35 53 10 39 61 42 58 43 40 17 47 45 8 46 51 3 42 58 34 66 54 46 43 51 5 43 57 46 54 40 38 22 52 34 14 52 46 2 44 56 49 51 58 41 54 42 3 51 49 55 45 56 28 16 58 27 15 55 42 3 54 46

48 52 53 45 47 41 11 40 60 37 63 40 37 23 54 30 16 47 47 6 60 40 33 67 48 49 38 52 8 40 60 45 55 42 37 21 49 41 10 45 53 2 43 57 36 64 52 48 41 54 4 41 59 49 51 46 39 15 50 45 5 53 45 2 47 53

30 70 46 53 39 54 6 39 61 42 58 41 41 18 44 50 6 42 55 3 38 62 48 52 57 41 46 47 6 39 61 51 49 47 35 18 55 35 10 52 46 2 52 48

5 95 9 91 8 86 5 4 96 7 93 7 77 16 10 85 5 7 92 1 5 95 67 33 82 18 69 26 4 79 21 85 15 82 8 10 90 6 4 89 10 2 93 7 31 69 38 57 29 55 14 33 67 43 57 39 30 31 48 33 19 44 49 7 52 48

42 58 51 47 43 47 9 46 54 51 49 47 35 18 60 31 9 55 42 3 58 42 40 60 48 50 41 51 7 42 58 47 53 44 34 22 46 45 9 48 49 3 48 52 29 71 54 45 44 52 3 37 63 40 60 38 45 17 44 46 10 45 54 1 43 57 41 59 46 51 35 54 9 40 60 46 54 45 35 20 51 43 6 48 47 5 48 52

National VoteSexMenWomenRaceWhiteNonwhiteEducationCollegeHigh schoolGrade schoolAgeUnder 3030–4950 and olderReligionProtestantCatholicPoliticsRepublicanDemocratIndependentRegionEastMidwestSouthWest

D = Democratic candidate; R = Republican candidate; I = Independent candidate (John B. Anderson, 1980; Ross Perot, 1992); P = Reform Party candidate (Ross Perot, 1996); G = Green Party candidate (Ralph Nader, 2000). Figures do not add to 100% in some groups because of rounding and/or minor party votes.SOURCE: The Gallup Organization.

Voting by Groups in Presidential Elections, 1972–2004(By Percentage of Votes Reported Cast)

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Share the following quotation withstudents:

“Democracy is a form of govern-ment by popular ignorance.”

—Elbert Hubbard

Discussion Ask students whatHubbard meant by his remark. Ask:Is Hubbard referring to people whochoose not to vote, or to uninformedvoters? Could he be referring to both?Explain.


Simulations and Data GraphingCD-ROM offers data graphing

tools that give students practice withcreating and interpreting graphs.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsStudents will research and answerquestions written by their class-mates. Have students present questions and answers to the class.

Despite the greater weight of some of thesefactors, however, note this point: It is the com-bined presence of several factors, not theinfluence of one of them alone, that tends todetermine whether a person will vote or not.

Voters and Voting BehaviorAs you have just seen, tens of millions of poten-tial voters do not go to the polls in this coun-try. But many millions more do. How do thosewho do vote behave? What prompts many tovote most often for Republicans and many othersto support the Democratic Party?

Answers to these questions are not as hardto find as you might think. Voting hasbeen studied more closely than any otherform of political participation in the UnitedStates. This is due partly to the importance ofthe topic and partly to the almost unlimited

amount of data available. (There have beeninnumerable elections in which millions ofvoters have cast billions of votes over time.)That research has produced a huge amount ofinformation about why people tend to vote asthey do.

Studying Voting BehaviorMost of what is known about voter behaviorcomes from three sources.

1. The results of particular elections. Ofcourse, how individuals vote in a given electionis secret in the United States. However care-ful study of the returns from areas populatedlargely by African Americans or by Catholics orby high-income families will indicate how thosegroups voted in a given election.

2. The field of survey research. The pollingof scientifically determined cross sections ofthe population is the method by which publicopinion is most often identified and measured.The Gallup Organization conducts perhapsthe best known of these polls today.

3. Studies of political socialization. This isthe process by which people gain their politi-cal attitudes and opinions. That complexprocess begins in early childhood and contin-ues through each person’s life. Political social-ization involves all of the experiences andrelationships that lead people to see the politicalworld, and to act in it, as they do.

In the rest of this chapter, you will considervoter behavior—how and why people vote asthey do. In Chapter 8, you will take a closerlook at public opinion, at the techniques ofsuvey research, and the process of politicalsocialization.

Factors That Influence VotersObservers still have much to learn about voterbehavior, but many sociological and psycholog-ical factors clearly influence the way peoplevote. Sociology is the study of groups and howpeople behave within groups. The sociologicalfactors affecting voter behavior are really themany pieces of a voter’s social and economiclife. Those pieces are of two broad kinds: (1) a voter’s personal characteristics—age, race,income, occupation, education, religion, and soon; and (2) a voter’s group affiliations—family,co-workers, friends, and the like.

VotingHow many choices does a voter havein a typical election contest?Most elections in the United States are two-candidatecontests. That is, they are elections in which two can-didates run against one another for each office listedon the ballot. Candidate A versus Candidate B for thisoffice, Candidate C versus Candidate D for that office,and so on down the ballot.

In any two-candidate race, a voter has not just twobut, in fact, five options. He or she can:

1) vote FOR Candidate A2) vote FOR Candidate B3) vote AGAINST Candidate A (by marking the ballot

for Candidate B)4) vote AGAINST Candidate B (by marking the ballot

for Candidate A)5) decide not to vote for either candidate

Remember, the fifth choice, not voting, might very wellbe the result of a reasoned decision.

Any Questions? What would you like to know about voting? Brainstormtwo new questions and exchange them with a class-mate. What did you learn?

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Enrichment Divide the class intogroups of four. Have students usethe information provided in the textcomparing voters and nonvoters tocreate representations of what the“typical” voter and nonvoter wouldlook like. Encourage creativity whilestudents use drawings, cutouts, ortext to describe the various personalcharacteristics of their two individu-als. Ask for a volunteer from eachgroup to present their “characters”to the class. LPR

Have students draw a simple two-column table. In the first column,have them list each of the factorsthat influence voting. (Have themuse the section’s headings and sub-headings for clues to these). Thenhave them write descriptions ofeach factor, using simple phrases or single words. ELL


Close Up on Participation Fightingfor Teenagers’ Rights, pp. 20–21uses the topic of student member-ship on boards of education to helpstudents plan and carry out servicelearning projects.

The Enduring ConstitutionPopular Sovereignty, p. 3

Basic Principles of the ConstitutionTransparencies Transparencies 9-15,Popular Sovereignty

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Popular SovereigntyThe principle of popular sovereignty—that thepeople are the source of the government’spower—is the very cornerstone of democracy, andvoting is the main means by which the peopleexpress their political choices. Yet while moreand more people around the globe are gainingthe right to vote for the first time, Americans—who have had that right for over 200 years—arevoting less and less often.

Activity Have the class list possible reasons for voter apathy.They should choose reasons from this chapter,and also brainstorm their own. Refer students toChapter 13 for reasons relating to the electoral col-lege and voting procedures. Have students use theirlist to generate poll questions about voter apathy.Students should administer the poll to adults or stu-dents over 18 years old, tabulate their results, andpresent them in the form of circle or bar graphs.

Constitutional Principles

Psychology is the study of the mind and of indi-vidual behavior. The psychological factors thatinfluence voter behavior are a voter’s perceptionsof politics, that is, how the voter sees the parties,the candidates, and the issues in an election.

The differences between these two kinds ofinfluences are not nearly so great as they mightseem. In fact, they are closely related and theyconstantly interact with one another. How voterslook at parties, candidates, or issues is oftenshaped by their own social and economic back-grounds.

Sociological FactorsFrom the table on page 167, you can draw acomposite picture of the American voter interms of a number of sociological factors. Aword of caution here: Do not make too muchof any one of these factors. As you examine thedata, keep this point in mind: The table reportshow voters, identified by a single characteristic,voted in each presidential election from 1976through 2004. Remember, however, that eachvoter possesses not just one but several of thecharacteristics shown in the table.

To illustrate the point: College graduatesare more likely to vote Republican. So are per-sons over age 50. African Americans, on theother hand, are more likely to vote forDemocrats. So are members of labor unions.How, then, would a 55-year-old, college-edu-cated African American who belongs to theAFL-CIO vote?

Income, OccupationVoters in lower income brackets are more likelyto be Democrats. Voters with higher incomestend to be Republicans. This pattern has held upover time, no matter whether a particular elec-tion was a cliff-hanger or a blow-out. In 2004,voters with incomes below $15,000 a yearbacked Democrat John Kerry by a 3 to 2 mar-gin, as did those making between $15,000 and$29,999. Voters who made $30,000 to $49,999split their votes almost exactly evenly betweenthe senator and President Bush.

Voters in higher income groups supported thePresident by wide margins. Thus, among thosemaking more than $100,000 a year, Mr. Bushhad a 3 to 2 advantage.

Most often, how much one earns and whatone does for a living are closely related.Professional and business people, and otherswith higher incomes, tend to vote forRepublican candidates. Manual workers, andothers in lower income groups, usually vote forDemocrats. Thus, with the single exception of1964, professional and business people havevoted heavily Republican in every presidentialelection in the modern era, including 2004.

EducationStudies of voter behavior reveal that there is alsoa close relationship between the level of a voter’seducation and how he or she votes. College grad-uates vote for Republicans in higher percentagesthan do high-school graduates; and high-schoolgraduates vote Republican more often than dothose who have only gone through grade school.

Gender, AgeThere are often measurable differences betweenthe partisan choices of men and women today.This phenomenon is known as the gender gap,and it first appeared in the 1980s. Women gen-erally tend to favor the Democrats by a marginof five to ten percent, and men often give theGOP a similar edge. The gender gap was lessapparent in 2004 than in previous presidentialelections. President Bush won 48 percent of allof the votes cast by women in that election.

A number of studies show that men andwomen are most likely to vote differently whensuch issues as abortion, health care or other

! Worth the Wait Blacks in South Africa fought for manyyears to gain the right to vote. In the first multiracial elections,held in 1994, many people stood in long lines for hours inorder to exercise this hard-won right.

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Make It Relevant

Prior to the 2000 presidentialelection, candidate SenatorJohn McCain (R.-Arizona) satdown with a group of SouthCarolina students in September,1999, and answered their ques-tions. McCain faced more stu-dent questions via the Internet,with topics ranging from schoolvouchers to social security.Both discussions—online andin person—were part of theKids Voting USA program toeducate young people aboutcandidates and to encouragethe habit of voting amongchildren and adults. ThroughKids Voting USA, students fromelementary through high schoolvisit polling places on electionday and cast ballots, which arecounted separately. Often, it isthe insistence of their childrenthat brings many adults to thepolls. Crystal Lambert, a seniorat the South Carolina meeting,had already registered to voteand was excited about her firstpresidential election.

Students Make a Difference

In the North, African Americans generallyvoted Republican until the 1930s, but thenmoved away from the party of AbrahamLincoln with the coming of the New Deal. Thecivil rights movement of the 1960s led to greaterAfrican American participation in the South.Today, African Americans vote overwhelminglyDemocratic in that region, too.

The United States is now home to morethan 42 million Latinos, people with Spanish-speaking backgrounds. Until now, Latinoshave tended to favor Democratic candidates.Note, however, that the label “Latino” con-ceals differences among Cuban Americans,who most often vote Republican, and MexicanAmericans and Puerto Ricans, who are stronglyDemocratic. The rate of turnout amongLatinos is comparatively low—less than 40percent in 2004.

GeographyGeography—the part of the country, the State,and/or the locale in which a person lives—alsohas an impact on voter behavior. After the CivilWar, the States of the old Confederacy voted soconsistently Democratic that the southeastquarter of the nation became known as theSolid South. For more than a century, mostSoutherners, regardless of any other factor,identified with the Democratic Party.

The Solid South is now a thing of the past.Republican candidates have been increasinglysuccessful throughout the region over the past40 years or so. This has been true in presiden-tial elections and at the State and the local levels, as well. Historically, the States that havesupported the Republicans most consistentlyare Maine and Vermont in the Northeast andKansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas in theMidwest.

Voters’ attitudes also vary in terms of thesize of the communities in which they live.Generally, the Democrats draw strength fromthe big cities of the North and East. Manywhite Democrats have moved from the centralcities and taken their political preferenceswith them, but Republican voters still domi-nate much of suburban America. Voters insmaller cities and rural areas are also likely tobe Republicans.

14In 1960, John F. Kennedy became the first Roman CatholicPresident. His election marked a sharper split between Catholicand Protestant voters than that found in any of the elections covered by the table on page 167.

social welfare matters, or military involvementsabroad are prominent in an election.

Traditionally, younger voters have been morelikely to be Democrats than Republicans. Oldervoters are likely to find the GOP and its candi-dates more attractive. Thus, in every presidentialelection from 1960 through 1980, the Democratswon a larger percentage of the votes of the under-30 age group than of the 50-and-over agebracket. That long-standing pattern was brokenby Ronald Reagan’s appeal to younger voters in1984, and by George Bush in 1988. However, BillClinton restored the Democrats’ claim to thosevoters in 1992 and 1996. In 2000, Al Gore won47 percent of the under-30 vote, George W. Bushreceived 47 percent, and most of the balance (6percent) went to the Green Party’s Ralph Nader.John Kerry won the major slice of the votes ofthat age group—54 percent—in 2004.

Religious, Ethnic BackgroundHistorically, a majority of Protestants have

most often preferred the GOP. Catholics andJews have been much more likely to beDemocrats.

President Bush won 62 percent of the votescast by all Protestants and 67 percent of thosecast by white Protestants in 2004. A larger-than-usual percentage of Catholics—48 percent—alsobacked the President. He won only 25 percent ofthe ballots cast by Jewish voters, however.

Moral issues—in particular, same-sex mar-riage—were unusually prominent in 2004. Andchurch attendance has lately emerged as a sig-nificant indicator of partisan preference. Sixty-three percent of voters who go to church at leastonce a week marked their ballots for Mr. Bushin 2004.

For decades now, African Americans havesupported the Democratic Party, consistentlyand massively. They form the only group thathas given the Democratic candidate a clearmajority in every presidential election since1952. There are now more than 40 millionAfrican Americans, and they make up the sec-ond largest minority in the country.


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Logical At the beginning of class askeach student to write on a piece ofpaper whether they would considerthemselves more in favor of theDemocratic Party or the RepublicanParty. Have them turn the paperover on their desk. Then ask stu-dents to copy into their notebooks atwo-column chart with the headingsRepublicans and Democrats. In theleft-hand margin students should listthe personal characteristics discussedin the text, including gender, age,parents’ income, religion, ethnicity,and geography. Ask students tomark for each attribute whether theymore closely resemble Republican orDemocratic voters. Have them tallytheir responses and compare themwith what they wrote on the piece ofpaper earlier in the class period. Askfor volunteers to share their results.

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Answer to . . .Evaluating the Quotation Suarez saysthat there has been a huge increasein the number of Latinos in cities;he believes this is changing politicsby creating a new electorate that hasits own unique concerns and issues.

Family and Other GroupsTo this point, you have seen the American votersketched in terms of several broad social andeconomic characteristics. The picture can also bedrawn on the basis of much smaller and morepersonal groupings, especially such primarygroups as family, friends, and co-workers.

Typically, the members of a family vote instrikingly similar ways. Nine out of ten marriedcouples share the same partisan leanings. Asmany as two out of every three voters follow thepolitical attachments of their parents. Thosewho work together and circles of friends alsotend to vote very much alike.

This like-mindedness is hardly surprising.People of similar social and economic back-grounds tend to associate with one another. Inshort, a person’s group associations usually reinforce the opinions he or she already holds.

Psychological FactorsAlthough they are certainly important, itwould be wrong to give too much weight to thesociological factors in the voting mix. For onething, these factors are fairly static. That is,they tend to change only gradually and overtime. To understand voter behavior, you mustlook beyond such factors as occupation, edu-cation, ethnic background, and place of resi-dence. You must also take into account a num-ber of psychological factors. That is, you mustlook at the voters’ perceptions of politics: howthey see and react to the parties, the candidates,and the issues in an election.

Party IdentificationA majority of Americans identify themselveswith one or the other of the major partiesearly in life. Many never change. They sup-port that party, election after election, withlittle or no regard for either the candidates orthe issues.

The hefty impact of party identification, orthe loyalty of people to a particular politicalparty, is the single most significant and last-ing predictor of how a person will vote. Aperson who is a Democrat or a Republicanwill, for that reason, very likely vote for all ormost of that party’s candidates in any given

Ray Suarez has been a news reporter and correspondent forsome 30 years, most recently for The News Hourwith Jim Lehrer. He has won numerous awardsfor his stories. In this excerpt, Suarez dis-cusses how city populations and votingpatterns are changing.

“ One million Latinos in Chicagoand its suburbs, and more thantwo million each in Los Angelesand New York, force you awayfrom a binary black-white view ofthe struggles over the city. The newmath means that standing betweenwhite and black is a new brown interest groupwaiting to be courted, often holding thebalance of power in municipal elections. InMiami, San Antonio, and, increasingly, Dallas,you can’t win without Latino support.”

Evaluating the QuotationAccording to Suarez, how has the ethnic balance in cities beenchanging? How does this change affect politics?

Voices on GovernmentVoices on Government

election. The practice of voting for candidatesof only one party in an election is calledstraight-ticket voting.

Party identification is, therefore, a key factorin American politics. Among many other things,it means that each of the major parties canregularly count on the votes of millions offaithful supporters in every election.

Several signs suggest that, while it remains amajor factor, party identification has lost someof its impact in recent years. One of those signsis the weakened condition of the parties them-selves. Another is the marked increase in split-ticket voting—the practice of voting for thecandidates of more than one party in an elec-tion. That behavior, which began to increase inthe 1960s, is fairly common today.

Another telling sign is the large number ofvoters who now call themselves independents.This term is regularly used to identify those peo-ple who have no party affiliation. It includesvoters who are independent of both theRepublicans and the Democrats (and of any

Use this complete suite of powerfulteaching tools to make planninglessons and administering testsquicker and easier.

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Answers to . . .

Section 4 Assessment1. People who have no political effi-cacy think they have no influence inpolitics, and thus are less likely to vote.2. The gender gap is the set ofmeasurable differences between thepartisan choices of men and women.3. If a person’s party identification isstrong, he or she will favor that partyby voting a straight ticket.4. Sociological factors include income,occupation, education, gender, age,religion, ethnic background, geogra-phy, family, and peer groups.5. Possible answers: The compositionof those who make up the governmentcould change dramatically as morepeople are represented; or, there couldbe more competition among groupsif people thought they had morepolitical efficacy.6. Questions will vary, but shouldtouch on the themes described inthis section.

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15Note that the term “independent” is sometimes mistakenlyused to suggest that independents form a more or less cohesivegroup that can be readily compared with Republicans andDemocrats. (Although the Gallup Poll data on page 142 do notintend such comparisons, they can be misread to that effect.) Inshort, independents in American politics are not only independentof Republicans and Democrats; each of them is also independentof all other independents.

minor party, as well). “Independent” is a trickyterm, however.15 Many who claim to be inde-pendents actually support one or the other of themajor parties quite regularly.

The loose nature of party membership makes itdifficult to determine just what proportion of theelectorate is independent. The best guesses put thenumber of independents at somewhere between afourth and a third of all voters today. The role thatthese independent voters play is especially criticalin those elections where the opposing major partycandidates are more or less evenly matched.

Until recently, the typical independent wasless concerned, less well informed, and lessactive in politics than those voters who identi-fied themselves as Republicans or Democrats.That description still fits many independents.

However, a new breed of independent voterappeared in the 1960s and 1970s, and theirranks have grown over the years. Largelybecause of the political events and personalitiesof that period, these “new” independents pre-ferred not to join either major party. Today,these independents are often young and aboveaverage in education, income, and job status.

Candidates and IssuesParty identification is a long-term factor. Whilemost voters identify with one or the other of themajor parties and most often support its can-didates, they do not always vote that way. Oneor more short-term factors can cause them toswitch sides in a particular election, or at leastvote a split ticket. Thus, in 2004, exit pollsindicate that 6 percent of those persons whousually vote Republican voted for John Kerryfor President, and 11 percent of those who nor-mally support Democratic candidates markedtheir ballots for the President.

The most important of these short-term factorsare the candidates and the issues in an election.Clearly, the impression a candidate makes on thevoters can have an impact on how they vote. Whatimage does a candidate project? How is he or sheseen in terms of personality, character, style,appearance, past record, abilities, and so on?

Just as clearly, issues can also have a largeimpact on voter behavior. The role of issuesvaries, however, depending on such things as theemotional content of the issues themselves, thevoters’ awareness of them, and the ways inwhich they are presented to the electorate.

Issues have become increasingly important tovoters over the past 40 years or so. The tumul-tuous nature of politics over the period—high-lighted by the civil rights movement, theVietnam War, the feminist movement, theWatergate scandal, and economic problems—islikely responsible for this heightened concern.

Key Terms and Main Ideas1. How does a person’s sense of political efficacy affect his

or her voting behavior?2. What is the gender gap?3. How are party identification and straight-ticket voting

related?4. List three sociological factors that affect voting behavior.

Critical Thinking5. Predicting Consequences What might be the results for the

nation if all eligible voters were required to cast ballots? Why?

6. Formulating Questions Suppose you are a pollster. Listthree questions you would ask to determine if someone willvote in the next election, and three questions to find outwhat party he or she would be likely to support.

PHSchool.com

For: An activity on voter participation

Web Code: mqd-2064


PHSchool.com



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Who Decides Who May Vote? Focus Remind students that underour federal system the Constitutiongives the States the right to set voterqualifications, subject to five restric-tions. Discuss and summarize thoserestrictions on the board. Then remindstudents that the Supremacy Clauseforbids the States from violating anyprovision of the Constitution. Instruct Have students identify theconstitutional provision the FederalGovernment’s attorneys relied on.(The 14th Amendment’s EqualProtection Clause) Then discusswhether or not residency require-ments and literacy tests pose a threatto democratic principles.Close/Reteach Review the reasonsfor nonvoting discussed in Section 4.Then divide the class into five groupsand have each group prepare a com-mercial encouraging people to vote.Each group should incorporate oneof the five stages in the struggle toextend voting rights discussed inSection 1.

Have students access Web Codemqp-2068 to participate in an onlinestudent poll on the topic of thisdebate.

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Answers to . . .Decide for Yourself1. Oregon used the grounds that onlyStates have the right to set votingrequirements to argue that someprovisions of the act were not con-stitutional. Mitchell rested on theEqual Protection Clause of the14th Amendment to argue thatCongress had the authority to chal-lenge State provisions that deniedbasic voting rights to citizens.2. Answers will vary, but shouldbe supported with valid reasoning.3. The Court struck down some ofthe provisions as they did not applyto State or local elections; however,it upheld the ban on literacy tests.This decision left some confusionin voting issues, which was laterresolved by the 26th Amendment.

Close Up on the Supreme Court Oregon v.Mitchell, p. 7 provides an activity to extend coverage of this case.

Corner


www.closeup.org

on the Supreme Court

The Constitution gives States authority to set voting qualifications. In the past, someStates purposely used that power to exclude certain groups—most notably AfricanAmericans—from the electoral process. Does Congress have the authority to limit thepower of States to set voter qualifications?

Who Decides Who May Vote?

2. The Constitution does not give Congress theright to require the States to use different qual-ifications for voting in federal elections thanthose States adopt for their own elections.

3. States have the authority to set standards forvoters, such as a minimum level of literacy or aminimum period of residence in the State.

Arguments for Mitchell1. Congress may set standards for voter qualifi-

cations in federal elections.2. Congress may prevent the States from excluding

certain groups of citizens from the voting rolls forState elections, if the exclusion tends to discrimi-nate against people based on characteristics suchas race or national origin. (Such discriminationby States violates the 14th Amendment’s EqualProtection Clause.)

3. Congress may prevent States from imposing aresidency requirement that makes it impossiblefor people who have recently moved to vote inpresidential elections.

Oregon v. Mitchell (1970)In 1970, the States of Oregon, Texas, and Idahosued the Federal Government (specifically, AttorneyGeneral John Mitchell) to challenge four provi-sions of the Voting Rights Act Amendmentspassed by Congress that year. One provision low-ered the minimum voting age to 18 in all electionsin the United States—federal, State, and local.Another barred the use of any literacy test in anyelection in this country for a five-year period. Athird provision prohibits the States from settingresidence requirements for voting in presidentialelections at more than 30 days. The final provi-sion established national rules for absentee votingin presidential elections. (Absentee voting allowspeople unable to go to their polling places on elec-tion day to receive and mark their ballots, andreturn them—usually by mail—before or no laterthan election day.) These provisions were clearlyintended to allow more people to participate inthe electoral process.

The case was heard by the Supreme Court in itsoriginal jurisdiction. (In other words, the case wasnot appealed to the Court from a lower court.)Fifteen States, though not part of the suit, filedbriefs (written arguments) with the Court in thecase. The American Civil Liberties Union, theNAACP, the Democratic National Committee, andvarious other groups also filed briefs.

Arguments for Oregon1. Only the States have the power to set voting

qualifications for State and local elections.Congress has no authority to require the Statesto allow persons between 18 and 21 to vote inState and local elections.

on the Supreme Court

Decide for Yourself1. Review the constitutional grounds on which

each side based its arguments and the specificarguments each side presented.

2. Debate the opposing viewpoints presented in this case. Which viewpoint do you favor?

3. Predict the impact of the Court’s decision onchanges in voter eligibility and voter participationin the United States. (To read a summary of theCourt’s decision, turn to pages 799–806.)

PHSchool.com

Use Web Code mqp-2068 to reg-ister your vote on this issue andto see how other students voted.

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AssessmentPracticing the Vocabulary1.–10. Sentences should define thevocabulary terms in the context ofchapter content.11. franchise12. injunction13. political efficacy14. straight-ticket voting

Reviewing Main IdeasSection 115. The gradual elimination of votingrestrictions and the expansion of theFederal Government’s control overvoting.16. Stages include: The early 1800sduring which religious, property own-ership and tax payment qualificationswere eliminated; the post-Civil Warera which saw the passage of the 15thAmendment; the passage of the 19thAmendment which expanded suffragefor women; the 1960s, which saw thepassage of several civil rights acts; andthe passage of the 23rd and 24thAmendments, eliminating poll taxesand adding the District of Columbiato the electorate.17. Voters must be able to vote in allelections, cannot be deprived of theright to vote based on race, sex, orage (above 18), and States may notimpose taxes as a condition to vote.

Section 218. American citizenship, legal Stateresidency, and age (minimum of 18years old).19. To keep political machines frombribing outsiders, and to ensure thatall voters are familiar with the can-didates and issues in an election.20. Literacy requirements mean that avoter must be able to read and write;they were used to keep various ethnicgroups from voting.21. Grandfather clauses were intendedto allow white males to vote whootherwise would have been restrictedby literacy tests or other requirementsmeant to keep African Americansfrom voting.22. It passed the Motor Voter Law.

Section 323. (a) To ensure that voting rightscannot be denied to a citizen becauseof race, color, or previous conditionof servitude. (b) By violence or social

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Chapter 6

pressure, literacy tests and polltaxes, and gerrymandering.24. It reports to Congress andthe President and, through themedia, to the public. 25. The drive met with violenceby local whites, including police;when the nation saw this violenceon television, Congress movedquickly to pass new legislation.26. It challenged and overturnedState poll taxes, and suspendedthe use of literacy tests or other

discriminatory devices.

Section 427. (a) A voter who votes in someelections, particularly nationalones, but does not vote for localelections. (b) Voters usually fail tovote in local elections becausethey have lost patience and/or donot feel they have the knowledgeto participate.28. Differences include income,

education, occupation, commu-nity status, age, geography, andparty affiliation.29. Those who vote Democrat aretypically younger, with lowerincomes, and with less educationthan those who vote Republican.30. It develops as result of socialand psychological factors; itusually predicts how people willvote, though recently it has lostsome impact.

Section 115. What two long-term trends mark the expansion of the

American electorate?16. What are the five stages of the extension of suffrage?17. What are the constitutional restrictions on the power of the

States to set voting qualifications?

Section 218. List the three factors that all 50 states use to set voter quali-

fications.19. For what two reasons did States adopt residence requirements

for voting?20. What is a literacy requirement for voting, and how was it

used to deny suffrage to certain groups?21. What is a grandfather clause, and what was its purpose with

respect to literacy tests?22. How did Congress require States to ease their registration

requirements in 1993?

Section 3 23. (a) What was the purpose of the 15th Amendment? (b) List

three ways that some southern States tried to circumvent the15th Amendment.

24. To whom does the Civil Rights Commission report its findings?25. How did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s voter registration drive

affect the passage of national civil rights legislation?26. Explain two key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Section 427. (a) What is a nonvoting voter? (b) How is this phenomenon

related to so-called “ballot fatigue”?28. Describe three differences between voters and nonvoters.29. Explain how income, education, and age usually affect party

affiliation.30. Explain how party identification develops, and how it affects

the way individuals vote.

suffrage (p. 148)franchise (p. 148)electorate (p. 148)transient (p. 153)registration (p. 154)purge (p. 155)poll books (p. 155)

literacy (p. 156)poll tax (p. 157)gerrymandering (p. 159)injunction (p. 161)preclearance (p. 162)off-year election (p. 164)political efficacy (p. 166)

political socialization (p. 168)gender gap (p. 169)party identification (p. 171)straight-ticket voting (p. 171)split-ticket voting (p. 171)independent (p. 171)

Political Dictionary

Practicing the Vocabulary

Reviewing Main Ideas

Using Words in Context For each of the terms below, writea sentence that shows how it relates to this chapter.

1. suffrage2. electorate3. registration4. poll tax5. injunction6. off-year election7. political efficacy8. political socialization9. straight-ticket voting

10. independents

Fill in the Blank Choose a term from the list above that bestcompletes the sentence.11. Suffrage and _________ mean approximately the same

thing.12. A(n) _________ is a court order that can be used to compel

a public official to carry out a law.13. Some people do not have a sense of _________ and

therefore do not bother to vote.14. Voters with a strong allegiance to a party often engage in

_________ when they go to the polls.

AssessmentAssessment

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Critical Thinking Skills31. Answers will vary, but shouldshow that students are aware of reli-able sources of information aboutcandidates, such as governmentsources, major news organizations,and nonpartisan civic groups.32. That attitudes have greatlychanged concerning equality forpeople of all races, ethnic back-ground, and gender.33. Answers will vary, but shouldshow an understanding of the threeuniversal requirements for voting.34. Answers will vary, but should besupported with solid opinions andexamples.

Analyzing Political Cartoons35. Physical appearance.36. Possible answer: The cartoonistsuggests that 150 years ago, peoplewere concerned with issues and ideas,not media appeal.

You Can Make a DifferenceHave students refer to the Close Up onParticipation booklet in the TeachingResources for ideas on planning andcarrying out service learning projects.

Participation Activities37. Reports should be accurate andinclude relevant historical facts; pre-dictions should be based on those factsrather than on the student’s opinion.38. Time lines should include allrelevant laws; opinions should besupported with reasons.39. Proposals should indicate they aretargeted to the various groups withlow voter turnout; tactics shouldaddress issues discussed in the chapter.

175


Guide to the Essentials ofAmerican Government Chapter 6

Test, page 42 provides multiple-choicequestions to test students’ knowledgeof the chapter.

ExamView ®Test Bank CD-ROMChapter 6 Test

Chapter Tests Chapter Testsbooklet

Additional support materials and activities for Chapter 6of Magruder’s American Government can be found in theSocial Studies area at the Prentice Hall School Web site.PHSchool.com

Critical Thinking31. Applying the Chapter Skill What criteria would you

use in deciding for whom to vote in an election?

32. Identifying Central Issues What does the record ofthe expansion of suffrage tell you about trends in the UnitedStates from 1789 to the present?

33. Demonstrating Reasoned Judgment Do you thinkthat resident aliens, those who have summer homes in atown, and other tax-paying transients should be allowed tovote in elections that determine how their taxes will bespent? Explain the reasons for your answer.

34. Testing Conclusions Some people suggest that weshould not try to increase voter turnout in this countrybecause that would only encourage uninformed voting andresult in bad choices made for the wrong reasons. Do youagree or disagree? Why?

Participation Activities37. Current Events Watch There are still places in the world

where people are struggling to achieve the right to choosethe leaders who govern them. Select one such country, andread about recent efforts to gain or expand suffrage there.Write a brief report on the struggle. Conclude by predictingwhether and/or when the struggle for suffrage will succeed.

38. Time Line Activity Using information from the chapter,make a time line of the federal laws (including constitutionalamendments) that were designed to ensure the suffrage ofAfrican Americans. Which, in your opinion, was the mostimportant law? Why?

39. It’s Your Turn You have been hired to increase voterturnout in local elections in your community. Review thecauses for low voter turnout and determine how they mightapply to various groups in your community. Prepare a proposalto the election committee. Describe three tactics you woulduse to increase local voter turnout and explain why theymight work. (Writing a Proposal)

Analyzing Political CartoonsUse your knowledge of American history and government and thiscartoon to answer the questions below.

35. Many factors affect voter behavior. At which factor is the cartoonist poking fun?

36. What do you think the cartoonist thinks of the way theAmerican electorate chooses its leaders today versus 150years ago?

You can make a difference. You can make a differ-ence. You can make a difference. You can make a dif-ference. You can make a difference. You can make adifference. You can make a difference. You can makea difference. You can make a difference. You canmake a difference. You can make a difference. Youcan make a difference. You can make a difference.You can make a difference. You can make a differ-ence.

Chances are that many of your 18-year-old friends andclassmates have not registered to vote. You and yourclassmates can help other teens make a difference inthe political process. Since laws vary from State toState, start by asking your local election officials howand where one registers to vote in your community.Take a poll of students to see how many have alreadyregistered. Then, working with school administrators,plan a voter registration drive, using posters and pressreleases to publicize your campaign.

You Can Make a Difference

PHSchool.com

For: Chapter 6 Self-TestVisit: PHSchool.comWeb Code: mqa-2065

As a final review, take the Magruder’s Chapter 6 Self-Testand receive immediate feedback on your answers. Thetest consists of 20 multiple-choice questions designed totest your understanding of the chapter content.

PHSchool.com

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Chapter 6 Page CHAPTER 6 Voters and Voter Voters and Voter Behavior Behavior · 2020. 10. 12. · Voters and Voter Behavior Introducing the Chapter In this chapter, students will