The document discusses reasons why people do and do not vote, and factors that influence how people vote. It first addresses why some people do not vote, such as being indifferent to politics or feeling alienated from the system. It then covers sociological factors that affect how people vote, such as income, education, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, and geography. Psychological factors like party identification are also discussed, noting it is a significant predictor but its influence may be weakening. The document examines both voter behavior and non-voter behavior.

1. Why d o n ’ t
people vote?
Why do people
vote the way
they do?
VOTER
BEHAVIOR

2. THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM

4. WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE
“ C an not - Voter s ”

6. WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE
The Indif ferent Voter:
“Meh.”
 “ E v e r y t h i n g ’ s O K ” Vo te r
Sure things wi l l go wel l wi thout
them
 Al ienated Voter
 No fai th in the system
 Low- levels of pol itical ef f icacy

7. WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE
Other Factors
 Di f ficult process
 Bad weather
 “ t ime - zo ne ” f a l l o ut
 Should increasing voter turnout be a national priority?

8. WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE
Voters (p.166-167) Non-Voters

9. WHY PEOPLE VOTE THE WAY THEY DO
How do we know how people vote?
-- results of an election
-- field of survey research
-- studies of pol itical socialization
Two Factors
Sociological Factors
Psychological Factors

12. SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Income & Occupat ion
- - Higher income = Republ ican
Educat ion
- - Col lege graduates tend toward
Republ ican
- - higher levels of educat ion skew
Democratic
Gender & Age
- - Gender Gap: women tend to favor
Dems in high numbers
- - di f fer signi ficant ly over social issues
- - Older = Republ icans

13. SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Rel igious & Ethnic Background
-- Protestants = Republicans
-- Cathol ics & Jews = Democratic
Why are some Catholic voters skewing Republican?
-- African Americans = Democrats
Republican voters from post -Civil War unti l New Deal
-- Hispanic & Latino Voters = Democrats

14. SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Geography
-- Post-Civil War: Sol id Democratic South
-- Today: Republicans strong in South and Midwest
Democrats strong in Nor theast & West
-- Democrats strong in urban areas
-- Republ icans strong in rural areas & smal l towns
ht tp: / / elec t ions .ny t imes . c om/2012/ resul t s /pres ident
Family & Other Groups
-- 9 out of 10 married couples vote the same
-- 2 out of 3 voters fol low the pol itics of their parents

15. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
 Par ty Identification
-- has been the most signi ficant predictor
-- many st raight -ticket vote
-- weakening; spl it-ticket voting
-- growing number of independents
What role do the candidate and the issues play in influencing
voter behavior?