Low voter turnout is a serious democratic problem for five reasons: (1) It means unequal turnout that is systematically biased against less well-to-do citizens. (2) Unequal turnout spells unequal political influence. (3) U.S. voter turnout is especially low, but, measured as percent of voting-age population, it is also relatively low in most other countries. (4) Turnout in midterm, regional, local, and supranational elections -- less salient but by no means unimportant elections -- tends to be especially poor. (5) Turnout appears to be declining everywhere. The inequality problem can be solved by institutional mechanisms that maximize turnout. One option is the combination of voter-friendly registration rules, proportional representation, infrequent elections, weekend voting, and holding less salient elections concurrently with the most important national elections. The other option, which can maximize turnout by itself, is compulsory voting. Its advantages far outweigh the normative and practical objections to it. This article has been removed from the eRepository website since it is now published: American Political Science Review vol. 91 (March 1997): 1-14.

/pdf/unequal-participation-democracy-s-unresolved-dilemma-4pyeuue7y8.pdf

Workplace Democracy: The Political Effects of Participation

Unequal Participation: Democracy's Unresolved Dilemma

Low voter turnout is a serious democratic problem for five reasons: (1) It means unequal turnout that is systematically biased against less well-to-do citizens. (2) Unequal turnout spells unequal political influence. (3) U.S. voter turnout is especially low, but, measured as percent of voting-age population, it is also relatively low in most other countries. (4) Turnout in midterm, regional, local, and supranational elections—less salient but by no means unimportant elections—tends to be especially poor. (5) Turnout appears to be declining everywhere. The problem of inequality can be solved by institutional mechanisms that maximize turnout. One option is the combination of voter-friendly registration rules, proportional representation, infrequent elections, weekend voting, and holding less salient elections concurrently with the most important national elections. The other option, which can maximize turnout by itself, is compulsory voting. Its advantages far outweigh the normative and practical objections to it.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003055400230980

Unequal Participation: Democracy's Unresolved Dilemma Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1996

Few concepts are more central to the analysis of democratic politics than public opinion. It is, or seems to be, a completely familiar idea, simply part of the landscape of politics we take for granted today. Yet to the specialist, getting a grip on public opinion is not that easy. Public opinion is, as Converse (I 975) once put it, "impalpable," "amorphous ," and ·'mercurial" (p . 77). Public opinion is hard to pin down. Conceding that my subject is complicated and difficult, I nevertheless hope to say something systematic and intelligible about it here. My particular topic is public opinion, but the chapter can be read more broadly as another installment in the continuing conversation between political science and social psychology. This conversation began, one could say, just after the tum of the century with publication of Graham Wallas 's Human Nature in Politics (1908), and it has been carried on over the decades by Harold Lasswell (1930) , Solomon Asch (1987), Carl Hovland (1959) , Robert Lane (1959a , 1973), David Sears (1969), Philip Converse (1970) , Herbert Simon (1985), and William McGuire (1993), among others. Following in these large footsteps, and now nearing the end of the twentieth century, I take up here a series of political topics-the competence of citizens , the ingredients of opinion, the power of social context and political discussion , the translation of

background

Opinion and action in the realm of politics.

Social Issues in Management: Theory and Research in Corporate Social Performance

▪ Abstract Is it possible for people to join their way to good citizenship? Contemporary thinking, both academic and popular, often leaves the impression that it is, but a careful investigation of the evidence raises serious doubts. In actuality, belonging to voluntary associations is a woefully inadequate foundation for good citizenship for three primary reasons: People join groups that are homogeneous, not heterogeneous; civic participation does not lead to, and may turn people away from, political participation; and not all groups promote democratic values. Good citizens need to learn that democracy is messy, inefficient, and conflict-ridden. Voluntary associations do not teach these lessons.

/pdf/citizenship-and-civic-engagement-oueinblwkz.pdf

Workplace Democracy: The Political Effects of Participation

Citations

Unequal Participation: Democracy's Unresolved Dilemma

Unequal Participation: Democracy's Unresolved Dilemma Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1996

Opinion and action in the realm of politics.

Social Issues in Management: Theory and Research in Corporate Social Performance

Citizenship and civic engagement

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