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This article seeks to analyze the relationship between turnout change and reform in the American states. Using pooled cross sections of state-level data, turnout and turnout change over time are compared to registration provisions at the same level. The registration closing date and motor-voter registration show a clear relationship to higher turnout, whereas mail registration and eased purge procedures do not. As a result, turnout gains because of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 are likely, but they will be modest.

Examines the relationship between voter registration closing date, motor-voter registration, mail registration, and easing purge procedures, and voter turnout, 1970-92; US.

Between 1998 and 2006, a new style of television news consumption was born: 'news grazing.' With remote control devices in hand, 'grazers' flip through TV news channels in order to find interesting news stories. Approximately three-fifths of the public graze, and this group tends to be younger than non-grazers. Grazers are less likely than the rest of the public to follow 'hard' news about politics and economics, and, not surprisingly, they are even less knowledgeable about public affairs than most people are. Adapted from the source document.

Pew Research Center polls in 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000, & 2002 show that Americans pay more attention to media accounts of nonpolitical stories than those about national, international, & local politics. Although Americans' attentiveness to political news rose between 2000 & 2002, attention to media accounts of politics remained below where it had been in 1989. For the most part, the relative rankings of attentiveness to different kinds of news stories remained the same. The authors also explore the factors that predict attention to political news. Finally, heed paid to media stories about politics appears to affect two important facets of democratic citizenship: political knowledge & participation. 5 Tables, 82 References. [Copyright 2004 Sage Publications, Inc.]

Pew Research Center polls in 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002 show that Americans pay more attention to media accounts of nonpolitical stories than those about national, international, and local politics. Although Americans' attentiveness to political news rose between 2000 and 2002, attention to media accounts of politics remained below where it had been in 1989. For the most part, the relative rankings of attentiveness to different kinds of news stories remained the same. The authors also explore the factors that predict attention to political news.Finally,heed paid to media stories about politics appears to affect two important facets of democratic citizenship: political knowledge and participation.

This study applies the knowledge gap theory to the American public's knowledge of the Bosnian civil war between September 1992—when the conflict was in its early days—through June 1995. Our goal was to determine if a knowledge gap existed in the case of the Bosnian civil war, and if so, whether it increased or decreased over time. Times Mirror Center polls clearly establish that the better educated knew more about Bosnia from September 1992 through June 1995. But people from all educational levels showed dramatic improvements in knowledge. The so-called knowledge gap declined rather than increased. Our surprising results may be due to the changing context and duration of the conflict. Attention to the Bosnia crisis increased over these 3 years, with people from all backgrounds more motivated to pay attention. In addition, the nightly network news provided frequent coverage of Bosnia. Thus, all segments of the American public learned more about the crisis.

Data from Great Britain and the United States from the late 1950s to the early 1990s show
relatively little change in the frequency with which citizens engage in political discussions, with
whom they are likely to speak, and the variables that shape their propensity to engage in political
talk. In addition, analyses of the data show that discussing politics enhances citizens' knowledge
of public affairs, even net of other variables known to affect political knowledge. Students of
political behaviour and those interested in strengthening democracy need to treat political
discussions as an important form of political participation.