Who Votes Now? ：Demographics, Issues, Inequality, and Turnout in the United States

Publication subTitle ：Demographics, Issues, Inequality, and Turnout in the United States

Author： Leighley Jan E.;Nagler Jonathan  

Publisher： Princeton University Press‎

Publication year： 2013

E-ISBN: 9781400848621

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780691159348

Subject： C91 Sociology;C912.4 cultural anthropology, social anthropology;D0 Political Theory;D034 State institutions;D52 世界政治制度与国家机构

Keyword： 世界政治制度与国家机构,国家体制,政治理论,社会学,文化人类学、社会人类学

Language： ENG

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Description

Who Votes Now? compares the demographic characteristics and political views of voters and nonvoters in American presidential elections since 1972 and examines how electoral reforms and the choices offered by candidates influence voter turnout. Drawing on a wealth of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and the American National Election Studies, Jan Leighley and Jonathan Nagler demonstrate that the rich have consistently voted more than the poor for the past four decades, and that voters are substantially more conservative in their economic views than nonvoters. They find that women are now more likely to vote than men, that the gap in voting rates between blacks and whites has largely disappeared, and that older Americans continue to vote more than younger Americans. Leighley and Nagler also show how electoral reforms such as Election Day voter registration and absentee voting have boosted voter turnout, and how turnout would also rise if parties offered more distinct choices.

Providing the most systematic analysis available of modern voter turnout, Who Votes Now? reveals that persistent class bias in turnout has enduring political consequences, and that it really does matter who votes and who doesn't.

Chapter

Cover

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

One Introduction

1.1 Economic Inequality, Income Bias, and Turnout

1.2 Policy Choices and Turnout

1.3 Economic Inequality and Voting Inequality

1.4 Voter Turnout and Election Laws

1.5 Data and Chapter Outline

Two Demographics of Turnout

2.1 Measuring Voter Turnout

2.2 Measuring Socioeconomic Status

2.3 Measuring Race and Ethnicity

2.4 Demographics of Turnout, 1972–2008 (CPS)

2.5 A More or Less Representative Voting Population?

2.6 More or Less Income Bias?

2.7 Representation: Of the Eligible or the Available?

2.8 Conclusion

Appendix 2.1: Current Population Survey: Sample and Variable Details

Appendix 2.2: Additional Data on the Representativeness of Voters, 1972–2008

Three Theoretical Framework and Models

3.1 Costs, Benefits, and Demographics

3.2 Model Specification

3.3 Education and Income

3.4 Race and Ethnicity

3.5 Age

3.6 Gender and Marital Status

3.7 Conclusion

Appendix 3.1: Estimation Results for the Demographic Models of Voter Turnout

Appendix 3.2: Additional First Differences for Income

Four The Legal Context of Turnout

4.1 Electoral Innovation in the United States

4.2 Previous Research on Electoral Rules and Turnout

4.3 Research Design and the Search for Effects

4.4 The Effects of Electoral Reforms: Difference-in-Difference Estimates

4.5 Cross-Sectional Time Series Analysis of Aggregate Turnout

4.6 Conclusion

Appendix 4.1: Voter Registration and Election Law Data Set

Appendix 4.2: Sources of State-Level Turnout and Demographic Data

Five Policy Choices and Turnout

5.1 Policy Choices and the Costs and Benefits of Voting

5.2 Policy Choices: Conceptualization and Measurement

5.3 Perceived Policy Choices, 1972–2008

5.4 Multivariable Analysis: Perceived Policy Alienation and Perceived Policy Difference

5.5 Perceived Policy Difference and Perceived Policy Alienation across Income Groups

5.6 Conclusion

Appendix 5.1: Comparing Alternative Measures of Alienation and Indifference

Six On the Representativeness of Voters

6.1 The Conventional Wisdom

6.2 Political Differences between Voters and Nonvoters: 1972 and 2008

6.3 Who Votes Matters: Policy Differences between Voters and Nonvoters

6.4 A More Detailed Look at Preferences: 2004

6.5 Conclusion

Appendix 6.1: Survey Question Wording

Seven Conclusion

7.1 The Politics of Candidate Choices and Policy Choices

7.2 Turnout and Institutions

7.3 On Turnout and Political Inequality

References

Index

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