Suchergebnisse

During the 2004 and 2006 general elections, a number of states considered different moral policy ballot measures, including marriage definition, abortion bans, and stem cell research. Although more moral policy measures were voted on in the last two general elections, this is certainly not the first time that moral issues have been placed on the ballot. Some political pundits, during these elections, suggested that increased voter turnout in some states was due to these ballot measures. This research examines whether or not the presence of a moral policy measure on a given state's ballot generates higher voter turnout. I find that moral policy ballot measures generate higher turnout in midterm elections but not in presidential elections. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractDuring the 2004 and 2006 general elections, a number of states considered different moral policy ballot measures, including marriage definition, abortion bans, and stem cell research. Although more moral policy measures were voted on in the last two general elections, this is certainly not the first time that moral issues have been placed on the ballot. Some political pundits, during these elections, suggested that increased voter turnout in some states was due to these ballot measures. This research examines whether or not the presence of a moral policy measure on a given state's ballot generates higher voter turnout. I find that moral policy ballot measures generate higher turnout in midterm elections but not in presidential elections.

Describes a simulation project in policy making in a political science class & evaluates its pedagogical value. Simulation can enhance instruction in policy formulation & decision making. It forces students to weigh complex alternatives, debate values, & critically examine their own participation in the process. The process will generally expose the students to elements of several theories, eg, bounded rationality & incrementalism. Students are given a problem of considering lack of parking space at a hypothetical university. The article presents the data that they must work with in their problem solving activity, & it illustrates the complexity & conflicting interests in even seemingly simple city planning problems. 1 Table. L. A. Hoffman

Are white Americans living among nonwhites more likely to support ending affirmative action than those living in more homogeneous white communities? Previous research on the contextual determinants of white racial attitudes has explored the "racial threat" hypothesis (that white racism increases with the competition posed by a greater proportion of African Americans in a community) & the extent to which these attitudes are driven mainly by cultural & socioeconomic contexts. We test these hypotheses by analyzing votes for CA's Proposition 209 in 1996, which aimed to end affirmative action in the state. Our census-tract-level analysis suggests that white support for Proposition 209 was higher in tracts with larger Latino, African American, or Asian American populations, even after controlling for other factors. Thus, our results support the racial threat hypothesis. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 62 References. Adapted from the source document.

With few exceptions, voter turnout continues to decline in the United States. Although normative theorists, journalists, and defenders of participatory democracy frequently suggest that citizen-initiated ballot measures can increase voter turnout, previous research has not supported this claim. Yet, in the past 25 years, usage of direct democracy has exploded in the United States. Using pooled time series data for the 50 states over a 26-year period (1970-1996), we find that the presence and usage of the initiative process is associated with higher voter turnout in both presidential and midterm elections. The disparity in turnout rates between initiative and noninitiative states has been increasing over time, estimated at 7% to 9% higher in midterm and 3% to 4.5% higher in presidential elections in the 1990s. Our analysis suggests that the initiative process can and does play a positive role in increasing electoral participation.