Suchergebnisse

Registration barriers have been under sustained assault since the Ken‐ nedy Administration, yet participation in elections continues to decline. By the 1980s turnout in presidential and congressional elections was below what it was in 1960. The demographic correlates of participation–age, education and roots within the community–have also grown stronger, predicting to an increased turnout. Registration procedures are important and substantial changes in such practices are recommended. Without the reforms of the last generation, it is probable that turnout would have decreased even more substantially. However, the principal barriers to full participation are the quality and content of contemporary American politics. Non‐participation is a threat to democratic government, yet the disintegration of the center in politics, the failure to exercise leadership or to offer relevant candidacies and policy alternatives, the weakening of the political parties, the unresponsiveness of political institutions, the trivialization of politics through the media have all contributed to public cynicism and disinterest. The need is to find new and more responsive alternatives for public involvement in governance.

Very few elections are decided on the basis of 1 vote. The electoral mechanism rests upon a 'religious faith' in contributing to a general will. It is this religious faith that is currently being eroded. Regeneration involves addressing the root-problems of involvement, government, media, institutions, political parties and policy. (SJK)

Political attitudes and other factors in the decline of voter participation.

Using original survey data, we test the level, distribution, and demographic patterns of populist attitudes in Indonesia. Populist attitudes are widely spread across the political spectrum; disproportionately high in the middle and upper classes; and particularly robust when coupled with other primary ideologies, such as Islamism and secularism.