3. Who votes –and who doesn’t?
What makes people vote the way they do?
Why don’t people vote?
4. Age Older >Younger
Gender Women > Men
Income Richer > Poorer
Education College Degree > HS Graduate
Race and Ethnicity Mixed Evidence
5.
6.
7. SOCIOLOGICALTHEORY
Importance of
Social Context
Partisanship of Family
and Friends
Impact of Socio-
Economic Status (SES)
and Religion
PSYCHOLOGICALTHEORY
Political Socialization
Party ID
Political Attitudes
Voting Decision
How are attitudes
formed?
8.
9. Voting based on past performance
If you are the incumbent:
Remember great things?
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
If you are the challenger:
Remember problems?
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
10. Voting based off of future considerations
If you are the incumbent:
Plans for a new term if re-elected
What will future look like with challenger?
If you are the challenger:
Reject incumbent’s policies
Vote for change in years ahead
11.
12. Based on costs and benefits
Voting Components:
Probability ofVote Mattering (“P)
Benefits ofVoting (“B”)
Costs ofVoting (“C”)
“Civic Duty” (“D”)
Individuals weigh these items
and make their voting decision
16. Party ID (#1)
Is candidate a Republican or a Democrat?
Interpersonal Communications
Friends and Family; “Opinion Leaders”
The Media
Agenda-Setting, Priming, and Framing
Idea of “Representativeness”
People compare actual candidate to “ideal” version
17.
18. Legal Obstacles
Attitude Changes
Voter Mobilization
Decrease in Social Connectedness
Generational Changes
The “Rational Nonvoter”