The Influence of Political Participation on Elections and Laws
Exploring the impact of political participation on election outcomes and laws, voter turnout, theories of voter behavior, reasons for not voting, and the difference between voters and nonvoters.
00:00:02 This video explores the impact of different groups' political participation on election outcomes and laws. It also compares voter turnout between countries.
🗳️ Political participation includes various forms such as voting, contacting officials, participating in protests, donating, and volunteering.
🌍 The United States has lower voter turnout compared to other industrialized countries when looking at registration and actual voting.
📊 Differences in political participation can impact election outcomes and the laws governments enact.
00:01:57 About 50 to 60% of voting age population turns out to vote. 80 to 90% of registered voters vote. Different theories explain voter behavior including economic self-interest and civic duty.
📊 Around 50 to 60% of the voting age population tends to turn out to vote.
🗳️ Around 80 to 90% of registered voters tend to vote.
💼 Voter behavior can be influenced by economic self-interest, where homeowners and higher-income individuals tend to vote more often.
00:03:57 This video explores the factors that influence voter turnout and discusses whether it matters who votes. Various reasons for not voting are mentioned, including registration problems, forgetting, disliking candidates, and being too busy.
🗳️ Voting is a civic duty and can lead to a sense of political efficacy.
📊 Turnout in elections is influenced by factors such as competitiveness, voter encouragement, and registration issues.
👥 Different reasons why people don't vote can be categorized as institutional, psychological, or other factors.
00:05:54 Does it matter who votes? Differences in political participation affect election outcomes, but not significantly. Nonvoters tend to favor slightly more liberal policies. Participation bias may lead to less representative laws.
🗳️ Does it matter who votes and do nonvoters have an impact on election outcomes?
📊 Nonvoters tend to favor slightly more liberal policies than voters on average.
🔍 Political participation bias can lead to less representative laws.
00:07:50 The difference in policy preferences between voters and nonvoters suggests that nonvoters tend to favor more government intervention and equalization. However, the impact of this difference on election outcomes is small.
🗳️ Nonvoters tend to have more liberal views and support government intervention and equality.
📊 The participation bias differs among states and cities.
🏢 Nonvoters' preferences have a small effect on election outcomes.
00:09:50 Participation bias in Senate elections may have a small effect overall, but in a closely divided Senate, eight elections can make a big difference. Low income voters are less likely to vote in certain states, leading to reduced welfare spending.
🗳️ Only a small number of Senate elections have been changed by voter turnout.
📊 Examining voter behavior can give insights into potential outcomes if everyone voted.
💼 Participation bias in low income voters can affect policy outcomes in certain states.
00:11:47 Americans don't vote as often but tend to participate in politics in other ways. Participation bias exists in other forms of political participation as well.
📝 Americans tend not to register or vote as often as people in other countries.
🗳️ Americans participate in politics more often through activities such as writing to newspapers, writing to the national legislature, attending public meetings, or signing petitions.
❓ There may still be participation bias in other forms of participation besides voting.
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