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Disclaimer. Don't rely on these old notes in lieu of reading the literature, but they can jog your memory. As a grad student long ago, my peers and I collaborated to write and exchange summaries of political science research. I posted them to a wiki-style website. "Wikisum" is now dead but archived here. I cannot vouch for these notes' accuracy, nor can I say who wrote them.
Burnham. 1982. The Current Crisis in American Politics.
Wants to explain decline in turnout (Y) during mid 20th century (compared to late 19th century). Two variables:
Increasing participation during the 19th century attracted the concern of upper- and middle-classes; they felt the mass-based electorate was too large and destabilizing. Thus, they initiated a series of legal changes to disenfranchise the mass electorate (X1: institutional barriers). Also, this era witnessed the dismantling of party machines. This dismantling is very significant: without party organizations, legal and functional barriers to voting cannot be overcome.
'The result': An oligarchic electorate (skewed toward upper classes) to protect laissez-faire capitalism. The low levels of further democratization during the 20th centrury is evidence of the disadvantages of the lower classes in the United States. The New Deal led to a slight increase in turnout. But despite the Civil Rights Act, voter turnout continued its decline in the 1960s-1970s.
Registration laws were adopted 100 years ago at the urging of progressives who wanted to prevent corrupt machines from manipulating the vote. However, Burnham argues there was also a more sinister motive: The oligarchic elite wanted to exclude immigrant and working classes from hitting the polls.
Increasing the electorate (to women, minorities) doesn't explain the decline in turnout; eliminating procedural barriers (e.g. poll taxes) won't reverse the decline.It is the degeneration of political parties and the lack of organizational and mobilizational opportunities previously offered by these parties that undermines both these changes (i.e. expanded electorate and reduced barriers).
Both parties are oligarchic, capitalist elites. If the lower classes voted more, political outcomes would be different.
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Tags
Burnham, Walter (author) • American Politics • Turnout • Voting • Participation
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