5.1 Voting rights + voting behaviors

15th amendment

Stated that no person can be denied the right to vote based on race or color

• Gave black men the right to vote

17th amendment

Gave people the right to vote for senators (previously by state legislatures)

• Expanded political participation

24th amendment

Abolished poll taxes, which some states used to prevent minority from voting

• Tear down barriers to political participation

26th amendment

Voting age from 21 to 18

Why are there still some groups who are prevented from voting?

The constitution granted states the right to decide who should vote. Therefore, states can reduce the size of the voting pool to align with their ideologies.

What are the 4 types of voting behaviors?

1. Rational Choice Voting

Rational Choice Voting

A person votes on their self interests and carefully study the issues and policies that best align with their preferences

Retrospective Voting

A person votes based on the past performance of a politician

Prospective Voting

A person votes based on their future predictions of how a party/candidate will perform in the future

“How will their policies/agendas affect my life in the future?”

Party-line voting

A person votes for all candidates of a voter’s party