LEADER 03570nam 2200613Ia 450 001 9910778193903321 005 20230607222752.0 010 $a0-674-04495-9 024 7 $a10.4159/9780674044951 035 $a(CKB)1000000000786760 035 $a(StDuBDS)AH23050946 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000271170 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11211733 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000271170 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10294658 035 $a(PQKB)10421052 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300403 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300403 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10318395 035 $a(OCoLC)923111142 035 $a(DE-B1597)574362 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674044951 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000786760 100 $a20020315d2002 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aWhere have all the voters gone?$b[electronic resource] /$fMartin P. Wattenberg 210 $aCambridge, MA $cHarvard University Press$d2002 215 $a1 online resource (224 p. ) $cill 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-00937-1 311 $a0-674-00938-X 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [175]-195) and index. 327 $aPreface Introduction 1. A Worldwide Turnout Problem 2. Turnout in the American States 3. Types of Individuals Who Vote 4. The New Generation Gap 5. Who Votes Does Make a Difference 6. How Voting Is Like Taking an SAT Test 7. Are Negative Ads to Blame? 8. How to Improve U.S. Turnout Rates: Lessons from Abroad Notes Index 330 $aAs the confusion over the ballots in Florida recently demonstrated, American elections are complex and anything but user-friendly. This has led to a decline in voter turnout. In this text Wattenberg confronts the question of what low participation rates means for democracy. 330 $bAs the confusion over the ballots in Florida in 2000 demonstrated, American elections are complex and anything but user-friendly. This phenomenon is by no means new, but with the weakening of political parties in recent decades and the rise of candidate-centered politics, the high level of complexity has become ever more difficult for many citizens to navigate. Thus the combination of complex elections and the steady decline of the party system has led to a decline in voter turnout. In this timely book, Martin Wattenberg confronts the question of what low participation rates mean for democracy. At the individual level, turnout decline has been highest among the types of people who most need to have electoral decisions simplified for them through a strong party system--those with the least education, political knowledge, and life experience. As Wattenberg shows, rather than lamenting how many Americans fail to exercise their democratic rights, we should be impressed with how many arrive at the polls in spite of a political system that asks more of a typical person than is reasonable. Meanwhile, we must find ways to make the American electoral process more user-friendly. 606 $aElections$zUnited States 606 $aVoting$zUnited States 606 $aPolitical parties$zUnited States 615 0$aElections 615 0$aVoting 615 0$aPolitical parties 676 $a324.973 700 $aWattenberg$b Martin P.$f1956-$0676616 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910778193903321 996 $aWhere have all the voters gone$93687813 997 $aUNINA