Why Is Turnout Down? |
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| Authors: | REITER HOWARD L |
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| Institution: | Political Science at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Financial assistance was provided by the University of Connecticut Research Foundation, and technical assistance was provided by the staff of the Social Science Data Center and the Roper Center of the University of Connecticut. The author is indebted to his colleagues Fred Kort and Everett Carll Ladd, Jr., for their advice. Anonymous referees were also helpful. |
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| Abstract: | The monotonic decline in turnout in presidential elections since1960 is the subject of this analysis of survey data. After somecommon explanations for this decline were rejected, it was discoveredthat the decline occurred mainly among low-income and low-educationwhites. Two explanatory hypotheses were examined, but appropriatedata for testing themwere unavailable; however, in the 1970snonvoters were more likely than voters at all income levelsto express dissatisfaction with the political system. Nonvotingwhites are not always a Democratic group, and their voting behavioris unpredictable over time. Their failure to vote may have anespecially significant impact on Democratic party policies,and implies that palliatives like reform of voter registrationlaws may not have the desired effect. |
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