5.1
Voting Rights
and Models of Voting Behavior
Standard 5A
Factors associated with political ideology, efficacy, structural barriers, and demographics influence the nature and degree of political participation.
Learning Objective
Describe the voting rights protections in the Constitution and in legislation.
Describe different models of voting behavior.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
Legal protections found in federal legislation and the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments relate to the expansion of opportunities for political participation.
Examples of political models explaining voting behavior include:
Rational choice—Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen’s individual interest
Retrospective voting—Voting to decide whether the party or candidate in power should be reelected based on the recent past
Prospective voting—Voting based on predictions of how a party or candidate will perform in the future
Party-line voting—Supporting a party by voting for candidates from one political party for all public offices at the same level of government
Review
Carey LaManna 4.10
Auxiliary Resources
Lesson: Why Don’t More People in the U.S. Vote? (CRF)
Article: Has a ‘Youth Wave’ Begun? (UpFront)