Political Participation and Voting

Democratic Theory

• Democracy Definition: A form of government where people hold power directly or through elected representatives.
• Four Dominant Forms of Democracy (Globally):
  • Procedural
  • Formal
  • Participatory Democracy
  • Social Democracy

Procedural Democracy

• Definition: Democratic legitimacy is based exclusively on the electoral process.
• Requirements: Regular elections and universal suffrage.
• Focus: Indifferent to democratic outcomes; the process is the key.

Formal Democracy

• Five Key Features:
  • Regular, free, and fair elections
  • Universal suffrage
  • Accountability of state administrative organs to elected representatives and legitimate authorities.
  • Effective guarantees of freedom of expression and association
  • Protection against arbitrary state action
• Limitations:
  • Does not ensure an equitable distribution of political power
  • Does not guarantee equitable outcomes

Participatory Democracy

• Characteristics:
  • Includes all features of a Formal Democracy
  • High levels of participation without systematic differences across social categories.
• Assumption: Presumes an equitable distribution of political power.
• Outcome: Does not presume equitable outcomes.

Social Democracy

• Features:
  • Incorporates all features of formal and participatory democracies
  • Aims for increasing equality in social and economic outcomes

Types of Political Participation

• Traditional or Formal Participation:
  • Engaging in political activities through formal government and societal channels.
  • Examples: Voting, electoral activities, political voice
• Civic Voluntarism:
  • Citizen participation in public life without government incentives or coercion.
  • Can be direct or indirect.
• Direct Action:
  • Participating outside normal political and social channels.
  • Examples: Protests, civil disobedience, riots, and rebellions

Voter Turnout

• Global Examples (with percentages):
  • Uruguay (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $90.10$, Registered-voter turnout rate $94.9$
  • Turkey (2018): Voting-age population turnout rate $86.2$, Registered-voter turnout rate $89.0$
  • Peru (2021): Voting-age population turnout rate $74.6$, Registered-voter turnout rate $83.6$
  • Indonesia (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $82.0$, Registered-voter turnout rate $82.4$
  • Argentina (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $80.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $82.3$
  • Sweden (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $80.3$, Registered-voter turnout rate $84.2$
  • Philippines (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $80.0$, Registered-voter turnout rate $83.0$
  • Belgium (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $77.9$, Registered-voter turnout rate $88.4$
  • New Zealand (2020): Voting-age population turnout rate $77.0$, Registered-voter turnout rate $81.9$
  • South Korea (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $76.7$, Registered-voter turnout rate $77.1$
  • Denmark (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $76.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $84.6$
  • Australia (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $76.0$, Registered-voter turnout rate $89.8$
  • Finland (2021): Voting-age population turnout rate $75.8$, Registered-voter turnout rate $80.1$
  • Netherlands (2021): Voting-age population turnout rate $74.9$, Registered-voter turnout rate $78.7$
  • Taiwan (2020): Voting-age population turnout rate $74.4$
  • Brazil (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $74.1$, Registered-voter turnout rate $79.4$
  • Israel (2021): Voting-age population turnout rate $67.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $73.7$
  • Hungary (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $69.6$, Registered-voter turnout rate $71.4$
  • Germany (2021): Voting-age population turnout rate $69.5$, Registered-voter turnout rate $76.6$
  • Ireland (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $68.7$, Registered-voter turnout rate $69.4$
  • Norway (2021): Voting-age population turnout rate $69.3$, Registered-voter turnout rate $77.2$
  • India (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $67.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $68.8$
  • Mexico (2018): Voting-age population turnout rate $63.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $66.0$
  • France (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $65.7$
  • Poland (2020): Voting-age population turnout rate $65.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $68.2$
  • Slovenia (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $65.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $65.8$
  • Portugal (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $51.5$, Registered-voter turnout rate $64.8$
  • Austria (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $64.4$, Registered-voter turnout rate $75.6$
  • Greece (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $57.8$, Registered-voter turnout rate $63.5$
  • United States (2020): Voting-age population turnout rate $62.8$, Registered-voter turnout rate $94.1$
  • Colombia (2022): Voting-age population turnout rate $58.1$, Registered-voter turnout rate $62.5$
  • United Kingdom (2019): Voting-age population turnout rate $62.3$, Registered-voter turnout rate $67.9$

Factors Influencing Voter Turnout

• Who is Most Likely to Vote:
  • Older citizens
  • The wealthy
  • Well-educated individuals
  • Some government beneficiaries
  • Nonwhite citizens
  • Those in "community"
    • Social capital: Relations between people that build closer ties of trust and civic engagement, yielding productive benefits for the larger society.
  • Those who are politically mobilized
    • Political mobilization: Efforts to encourage people to engage in the public sphere.
      • Voting for a particular candidate
      • Donating money
      • Working on a campaign
    • Issue advocacy: Organized effort to advance (or block) a proposed public policy change.

Reasons for Not Voting

• Institutional Reasons:
  • Timing
  • Voter fatigue
  • Registration
  • Shifting mobilization patterns
  • Cycles of nonparticipation
  • Intentional Suppression
    • No same-day registration
    • Voter ID laws
    • Registration purges
    • Shorter voting periods
• Cultural Reasons:
  • Complacency
  • Alienation
  • Political marginalization
  • Polarization
  • Government effectiveness

Social Media and Political Participation

• How Social Media Improves Democracy:
  • People are active online
  • People respond to online political activity
  • Clicktivism
  • Range of political commentary has expanded (i.e., political voice).
  • Democratizes news production
  • More ways to reach voters
  • Precise targeting
• How Social Media Challenges Democracy:
  • Centralized control
  • Din
  • Misinformation
  • Online Abuse

Frontline Documentary: "Whose Vote Counts"

• Focus: How the State of Wisconsin managed the 2020 presidential election during the height of the Covid-19 epidemic.
• Reporter: Historian and journalist Dr. Jelani Cobb.