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Americans have died for the right to vote. Yet our democratic system guarantees no one, not even citizens, the opportunity to elect a government. Allan Lichtman calls attention to the founders' greatest error-leaving the franchise to the discretion of individual states-and explains why it has triggered an unending struggle over voting rights.

Suffrage --- History. --- U.S. Constitution. --- Voting Rights Act. --- alien voting. --- at-large elections. --- black suffrage. --- electoral reform. --- gerrymandering. --- partisan politics. --- voter fraud. --- voter registration. --- voter turnout. --- women's suffrage.

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Although there is a widespread belief that uneven voter turnout leads to biased outcomes in American democracy, existing empirical tests have found few effects. By offering a systematic account of how and where turnout matters in local politics, this book challenges much of what we know about turnout in America today. It demonstrates that low and uneven turnout, a factor at play in most American cities, leads to sub-optimal outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities. Low turnout results in losses in mayoral elections, less equitable racial and ethnic representation on city councils, and skewed spending policies. The importance of turnout confirms long held suspicions about the under-representation of minorities and raises normative concerns about local democracy. Fortunately, this book offers a solution. Analysis of local participation indicates that a small change to local election timing - a reform that is cost effective and relatively easy to enact - could dramatically expand local voter turnout.

Local elections --- Voting --- Municipal government --- Cities and towns --- City government --- Municipal administration --- Municipal reform --- Municipalities --- Urban politics --- Local government --- Metropolitan government --- Municipal corporations --- County elections --- Elections, County --- Elections, Local --- Elections, Municipal --- Municipal elections --- Election law --- Elections --- Citizen participation. --- Government --- Law and legislation --- Voter turnout --- Election turnout --- Turnout (Voting) --- Voting turnout --- Social Sciences --- Political Science

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Voting is a habit. People learn the habit of voting, or not, based on experience in their first few elections. Elections that do not stimulate high turnout among young adults leave a 'footprint' of low turnout in the age structure of the electorate as many individuals who were new at those elections fail to vote at subsequent elections. Elections that stimulate high turnout leave a high turnout footprint. So a country's turnout history provides a baseline for current turnout that is largely set, except for young adults. This baseline shifts as older generations leave the electorate and as changes in political and institutional circumstances affect the turnout of new generations. Among the changes that have affected turnout in recent years, the lowering of the voting age in most established democracies has been particularly important in creating a low turnout footprint that has grown with each election.

Voter turnout --- Political participation --- Democracy --- Election turnout --- Turnout (Voting) --- Voting turnout --- Voting --- Citizen participation --- Community action --- Community involvement --- Community participation --- Involvement, Community --- Mass political behavior --- Participation, Citizen --- Participation, Community --- Participation, Political --- Political activity --- Political behavior --- Political rights --- Social participation --- Political activists --- Politics, Practical --- History --- Polls --- Elections --- Social choice --- Suffrage --- Vote --- Participation politique --- Démocratie --- Histoire --- Political sociology --- Political systems --- anno 1900-1999 --- anno 2000-2009 --- Social Sciences --- Political Science

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Local government is the hidden leviathan of American politics: it accounts for nearly a tenth of gross domestic product, it collects nearly as much in taxes as the federal government, and its decisions have an enormous impact on Americans' daily lives. Yet political scientists have few explanations for how people vote in local elections, particularly in the smaller cities, towns, and suburbs where most Americans live. Drawing on a wide variety of data sources and case studies, this book offers the first comprehensive analysis of electoral politics in America's municipalities. Arguing that current explanations of voting behavior are ill suited for most local contests, Eric Oliver puts forward a new theory that highlights the crucial differences between local, state, and national democracies. Being small in size, limited in power, and largely unbiased in distributing their resources, local governments are "managerial democracies" with a distinct style of electoral politics. Instead of hinging on the partisanship, ideology, and group appeals that define national and state elections, local elections are based on the custodial performance of civic-oriented leaders and on their personal connections to voters with similarly deep community ties. Explaining not only the dynamics of local elections, Oliver's findings also upend many long-held assumptions about community power and local governance, including the importance of voter turnout and the possibilities for grassroots political change.

Democracy --- Local elections --- County elections --- Elections, County --- Elections, Local --- Elections, Municipal --- Municipal elections --- Election law --- Elections --- Law and legislation --- #SBIB:324H42 --- Politieke structuren: verkiezingen --- Ha, Shang E. --- Callen, Zachary. --- American 1 : --- General & Multiperiod. --- America. --- American government. --- American municipalities. --- American politics. --- bias. --- city council members. --- classical democratic theory. --- constitutive power. --- custodial performance. --- election results. --- electoral politics. --- grassroots politics. --- homevoters. --- incumbent. --- intermunicipal political exclusion. --- local community. --- local democracy. --- local elections. --- local governance. --- local government. --- local politicians. --- local politics. --- managerial democracy. --- municipal government. --- municipal governments. --- municipalities. --- national elections. --- national politics. --- political candidates. --- political dynamics. --- political engagement. --- political participation. --- population size. --- resource distribution. --- state elections. --- voter choice. --- voter turnout. --- voting behavior.

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Citizens are political simpletons--that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even about matters of the highest importance, along with inconsistencies in their thinking, some glaring by any standard. But this picture of citizens all too often approaches caricature. Paul Sniderman and Benjamin Highton bring together leading political scientists who offer new insights into the political thinking of the public, the causes of party polarization, the motivations for political participation, and the paradoxical relationship between turnout and democratic representation. These studies propel a foundational argument about democracy. Voters can only do as well as the alternatives on offer. These alternatives are constrained by third players, in particular activists, interest groups, and financial contributors. The result: voters often appear to be shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent because the alternatives they must choose between are shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent. Facing the Challenge of Democracy features contributions by John Aldrich, Stephen Ansolabehere, Edward Carmines, Jack Citrin, Susanna Dilliplane, Christopher Ellis, Michael Ensley, Melanie Freeze, Donald Green, Eitan Hersh, Simon Jackman, Gary Jacobson, Matthew Knee, Jonathan Krasno, Arthur Lupia, David Magleby, Eric McGhee, Diana Mutz, Candice Nelson, Benjamin Page, Kathryn Pearson, Eric Schickler, John Sides, James Stimson, Lynn Vavreck, Michael Wagner, Mark Westlye, and Tao Xie.

Public opinion --- Political participation --- United States --- Politics and government --- 1950s sociology. --- 2008 National Annenberg Election Study. --- American party system. --- American politics. --- American public opinion. --- Election Day registration. --- George W. Bush. --- John McCain. --- NAES. --- Pure Independents. --- Sarah Palin. --- U.S. elections. --- U.S. senators. --- U.SЃhina relations. --- Who Votes?. --- activism. --- alternative modeling strategies. --- campaign strategy. --- candidate-centered campaigns. --- candidate-centered voting. --- challenger partisans. --- citizen competence. --- citizen preferences. --- citizens. --- civic engagement. --- closing dates. --- cognition. --- conflict of interest. --- congressional elections. --- conservative identification. --- cosmopolitan orientation. --- cosmopolitanism. --- democracy. --- democratic representation. --- election outcomes. --- electoral preferences. --- elite-driven theory. --- foreign policy. --- ideological conservatives. --- ideological consistency. --- ideological contradiction. --- ideological polarization. --- ideological shift. --- incumbent partisans. --- independent voter. --- independents. --- institution-free approach. --- institutions. --- issue preferences. --- job approval ratings. --- liberal policy preferences. --- mass belief systems. --- mass opinion. --- modern political campaigns. --- nonvoters. --- ordinary citizens. --- participatory bias. --- partisan bias. --- partisan differences. --- partisan differential. --- partisan polarization. --- party identification. --- party polarization. --- party-centered voting. --- polarization. --- policy preference heuristics. --- policy preferences. --- political activism. --- political behavior. --- political candidates. --- political consistency. --- political participation. --- political participations. --- political parties. --- political preferences. --- political right. --- political scientists. --- politically coherent choices. --- politics. --- public opinion surveys. --- public opinion. --- public. --- purposive belief systems. --- purposive reasoning. --- registration deadlines. --- roll-call behavior. --- social spaces. --- universal turnout. --- vote choice. --- vote misreporting. --- vote models. --- vote preference. --- vote validation study. --- voter turnout. --- voters. --- votes.