The Implications of Nonvoting for Democracy in the United States

This paper reconsiders several of the arguments normative theorists have constructed about political participation's impact on the democratic polity. Two key arguments are addressed in the context of the United States today: (1) does nonvoting pose a threat to democracy; and (2) does nonvoting...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of political science 1990-08, Vol.34 (3), p.771-802
Main Authors: Bennett, Stephen Earl, Resnick, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil liberties
Democracy
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND INSTITUTIONS
Elections
Electoral behaviour
Electorate
Government spending
Libertarianism
Political participation
Political parties
Political partisanship
Political science
Polls
Public opinion
PUBLIC POLICY
Representative government
Social research
U.S.A
United States
UNITED STATES, 1945 TO PRESENT
Voter turnout
Voting
Voting abstentionism
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper reconsiders several of the arguments normative theorists have constructed about political participation's impact on the democratic polity. Two key arguments are addressed in the context of the United States today: (1) does nonvoting pose a threat to democracy; and (2) does nonvoting cause skewed public policies? The CPS's National Election Studies, NORC's 1985 General Social Survey, and Gallup's 1987 "The People, Press, and Politics" poll indicate the first can be answered in the negative, but there may be some skews on domestic issues, particularly those dealing with spending for welfare state programs. On the other hand, nonvoters are not more egalitarian or in favor of government ownership or control of industry. Nonetheless, it would be erroneous to discount participation's worth for democratic politics because, if it makes elites pay attention to public opinion, its value is firmly established.
ISSN:0092-5853
1540-5907
DOI:10.2307/2111398