William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

326 Chapter 9 | Elections

How Do Voters Decide?

All the electoral activities we have considered so far are directed at citizens: making

sure they are registered to vote, influencing their voting decisions, and getting them

to the polls. In this section, we examine how citizens respond to these influences. The

first thing to understand is that the high level of attention, commitment, and energy

exhibited by candidates and other campaign actors is not matched by ordinary

citizens. We have seen throughout this chapter and others that although politics

is everywhere and elections are the primary mechanism citizens have to control

the federal government, only a minority of citizens report high levels of interest in

campaigns, many people know little about the candidates or the issues, and many

people do not vote.^49

Who Votes, and Why?

Politics is everywhere, but getting involved is your choice. Voting and other forms of

political participation are optional. Surprisingly, even a strong preference between

two candidates may not drive citizens to the polls. They may not be motivated to vote

because they feel that their vote is just one of many.^50 And it’s true that the only time a

vote “counts,” in the sense that it changes the outcome, is when the other votes are split

evenly so that one vote breaks the tie. Moreover, voting involves costs. Even if citizens

don’t learn about the candidates but want to vote anyway, they still have to get to the

polls on Election Day. Thus, the paradox of voting is this: Why does anyone vote, given

that voting is costly and the chances of affecting the outcome are small?

Figure 9.2 shows that among Americans the percentage of registered voters who

actually voted in recent presidential elections has been around 60 percent, although

EXPLAIN THE KEY FACTORS

THAT INFLUENCE VOTERS’

CHOICES

paradox of voting

The question of why citizens vote even

though their individual votes stand

little chance of changing the election

outcome.

Voting is costly in terms of time and

effort. After registering and informing

themselves about the election, voters

have to take the time to go to the polls

and possibly wait in line.

FIGURE

9.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70%

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Presidential election years

Midterm election years

Turnout in

Presidential

and Midterm

Elections,

1992–2018

The figure shows how turnout of

registered voters varies both over time

and between presidential and midterm

elections. Why don’t more people vote

in midterm election years? Why don’t

more people vote in any given year?

Source: United States Election Project,

http://www.election-project.org (accessed

11/7/18).

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