Description
Book SynopsisIn this timely book, Martin Wattenberg confronts the question of what low participation rates mean for democracy. At the individual level, turnout decline has been highest among the types of people who most need to have electoral decisions simplified for them through a strong party system--those with the least education, political knowledge, and life experience.
Trade ReviewThis is a very well written and well argued analysis of the problem of low and declining voter turnout in the United States...Wattenberg knows the American and comparative literatures very well, and he summarizes and integrates them expertly. In addition, he adds new and important evidence. -- Arend Lipjhart, University of California, San Diego
This is a well-organized and well-written book on an important topic. It offers a critical review of what political scientists think they know about determinants of voting turnout and some original research. A big plus is that it puts the fall in US turnout into a broader international perspective. -- Richard Freeman, Harvard University
The number of Americans who bother to vote has declined for decades, to the point that the United States has the lowest turnout rate in the industrialized world, save only Switzerland. Why this is so is a question that Wattenberg studies from every available angle...Wattenberg's book is a lucid presentation of new and prior research on an important problem. -- Robert F. Nardini * Library Journal *
Even as registering to vote has been made easier, Martin P. Wattenberg explains, the decline has continued.
Where Have All the Voters Gone? is a thorough review of the recent academic studies of the question...Wattenberg assesses the studies and adds a few conclusions on how to get more voters to the polls. -- Anthony Day * Los Angeles Times *
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. A Worldwide Turnout Problem 2. Turnout in the American States 3. Types of Individuals Who Vote 4. The New Generation Gap 5. Who Votes Does Make a Difference 6. How Voting Is Like Taking an SAT Test 7. Are Negative Ads to Blame? 8. How to Improve U.S. Turnout Rates: Lessons from Abroad Notes Index
