07/29/2010 (4:48 am)
Incentives and barriers to participation in the voting process. Best answer on the web
following questions:
1. Who are the California nonvoters (i.e. eligible but not
registered) and low-propensity voters (i.e. registered but not
participating)looking at all demographic factors, such as age, race
and ethnicity, income, etc.?
2. Both in California and nationally, what is already known or
observed, from surveys/research products/studies, about
non-participation in the voting process? Specifically, what are the
barriers and incentives for voter participation, both in California
and nationwide?
The answer is needed by Thursday, Feb 5 and should include the following:
1. A detailed index/inventory of all previously published works
(studies/surveys/polls/articles/papers/books) that address these
questions, including information on where they are available; and
2. Electronic copies of all readily-available works included in the
index/inventory. If they are not readily available, i.e., not
available in electronic format or if they are only available for a
fee, that information should be included in the index/inventory,
again, including where and how they can be obtained.
You have asked an extremely interesting question and I will be starting to research this for you. One point....when a customer asks for "all previously published research" about a particular topic, researchers tend to quake in their boots a bit. None of us can ever be sure we have found it "all." However, if you are satisfied that I (or another researcher) have investigated the available resources until the research seems exhausted, it will be a pleasure to conduct this research for you. Does this seem reasonable?
umiat
"How Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Shape the California Electorate," by Jack Citrin and Benjamin Highton. Public Policy Institute of California. (2002) http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/R_1202JCR.pdf
"Municpal Elections in California: Turnout, Timing, and Competition," by Zoltan L Hajnal, Paul G. Lewis and Hugh Louch. Public Policy Institute of California (2002) http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/R_302ZHR.pdf
"The Effect of Minority Districts and Minority Representation on Political Participation in California," by Claudine Gay. Public Policy Institute of California. (2001) http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/R_601CGR.pdf
"The Faces of Diversity: Melting Pot Or Great Divide?" by Mark Baldassare and Cheryl Katz. (This opinion article appeared in OC Metro in the February 6, 2003 issue) http://www.ppic.org/main/commentary.asp?i=403 "But Latinos have not participated in the political process as fully as they could be. According to our recent surveys, only about half of Orange County's Latino adults are registered to vote, compared to nearly 9 in 10 whites. Latino voting today is limited by many factors, such as lower citizenship rates, a more youthful population, and lower incomes, education and homeownership rates than whites. Participation among Latinos must be increased to ensure that their voices get heard in the political process, especially since many depend on public health and social service programs."
I will await your thoughts!
As for your second question, I would expect, at the very least, that a professional researcher answering this request would have access to basic proprietary databases such as Nexis and whatever its equivalent(s)are in the academic realm. If that is not the case for you, please take a pass on this project. I understand, as I indicated in my initial question, that researchers may not have access to full text of all materials. But if indexes or abstracts of those materials indicate that my questions are addressed, those items should be included in the index/inventory I've requested. I've provided detail on my expectations in my initial question.
Thanks for your interest and for the questions.
I want to further clarify your expectations before I continue as I know you want an answer by February 5th.
In your clarification, you said:
"This is not a topic upon which a great amount of research is likely to have been done, so I do not think my request for an inventory/index of "all previously published works" should cause much concern."
I have spent well over twelve hours on research already and feel that I have barely touched the surface in terms of finding "all" published information on this topic. Many of these references are magazine and newspaper articles, as per your request for "studies/surveys/polls/articles/papers/books."
** The search terms necessary to ferret out information on nonvoters are numerous, and there is no easy way to select pertinent articles without reading through most of them. I have searched Lexis, Proquest, WebSPIRS, FirstSearch, SIRS, as well as numerous online search engines and could spend several more days pouring through each each with various search strategies.
Let me give you just one example:
My searches in Lexis, etc. did not turn up various articles from the American Prospect, which I found through a traditional online search. Nor did any of the database searches turn up links to two ABC voter polls which are mentioned in one of the American Prospect articles. Consequently, a search on the ABC poll archives only goes back to 1999, so it would take my phone calls to ABC or a suggestion for you to contact ABC to tell you "where the information can be found."
Here is the American Prospect article and the reference to the ABC polls:
"Finding the Lost Voters," by Micah L. Sifry
http://www.prospect.org/print/V11/6/sifry-m.html
"More answers can be found in two little-noticed surveys, one conducted in the summer of 1983 by ABC News, and the second done after the election of 1996 by Republican pollster Kellyanne Fitzpatrick."
Consequently, a search of the ABC News poll vault looks like this:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/PollVault/PollVault.html
* As you can see, just tracking down a copy of the two polls will take some time since the archives do not go back that far.
==
* Also, there are many articles that touch on reasons people don't vote even though the article may not be strictly focused on nonvoters. When you say you want everything published about this issue, the following article is a good example of what I run into:
"Up From Bipartisanship," by Robert B. Reich
http://www.prospect.org/print/V8/32/reich-r.html
"I am not aware of any surveys explaining unambiguously why the nonvoters of 1996 stayed away from the voting booths, but it seems a fair guess that they refrained from voting because they assumed it would make little or no difference to their lives. Lower-wage Americans, in particular, are voting less because they see less reason to vote."
==
* Then there are sources like the University of Michigan National Election Studies which, in and of itself, would take quite a bit of time to pour through to evaluate which studies touch on nonvoters. http://www.umich.edu/~nes/overview/overview.htm
==
To give you an idea of my research thus far, here is a sample of national nonvoter information that I have found:
"Noshows2000 Detailed Findings." Synopsis of Study
http://www.yvoteonline.org/noshows2000_details.shtml
"NoShows 2000 Report."
http://www.yvoteonline.org/docs/noshows_2000/no_show_2000_report.pdf
"TopLine Results - NonVoters."
http://www.yvoteonline.org/docs/noshows_2000/no_show_2000_nonvoter_res.pdf
"Methodology."
http://www.yvoteonline.org/docs/noshows_2000/survey_methodology.pdf
"Y VOTE 2000: Politics Meets The Digital Generation."
http://www.yvoteonline.org/yvote2000_jul.shtml
(Synopsis of this report contains some information on those who have decided not to vote, so you might want to read the full report pertaining to those sections) Full Report: http://www.yvoteonline.org/docs/yvote2000_july/report1.pdf
"Putting a Face on Non-Voting Americans," by Leigh Marjamaa. Medill News Service
http://www.yvoteonline.org/noshows2000_mns_news.shtml
"The Myth of the Vanishing Voter," by Michael P. McDonald and Samuel L. Popkin. American Political Science Review. Vol. 95, No. 4 (December 2001) http://elections.gmu.edu/APSR%20McDonald%20and_Popkin_2001.pdf
"Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1996," by Lynne M. Casper and Loretta E. Bass. Current Population Reports. PS20-504. US Census Bureau. (July 1998) http://www.census.gov/prod/3/98pubs/p20-504.pdf
"As Turnout Falls, Apathy Emerges As Driving Force," by Richard Morin and Claudia Deane, Washington Post (Nov. 4, 2000) http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45c/051.html
"ALIENATION NOT A FACTOR IN NONVOTING." League of Women Voters. (from a 1996 survey) http://www.lwv.org/elibrary/pub/mellman.htm
"Why the poll booths of America are empty," by Linda Feldmann. Christian Science Monitor. (Oct 3, 2000) http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/10/03/fp1s3-csm.shtml
"A Southern town rebels ... against ballot box," by Ann Scott Tyson. Christian Science Monitor. (Oct 5, 2000) http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/10/05/fp8s1-csm.shtml
"Motor Voter: A Dismal Failure," by Randall D. LLoyd PhD. Nevada Journal.
http://nj.npri.org/nj99/02/vote.htm
"Race, Ethnicity, and Voting." Quick Facts. The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. http://www.civicyouth.org/quick/trends.htm
"Improving Voter Turnout," by Ingrid Reed. Philadelphia Inquirer. (10/19/2003)
http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/NJProject/Reedarticle10_03.html
From the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate:
"TURNOUT DIPS TO 56-YEAR LOW." (1998)
http://www.gspm.org/csae/cgans4.html
"REGISTRATION INCREASES BY FOUR MILLION."(11/2/1998)
http://www.gspm.org/csae/cgans3.html
"FINAL POST ELECTION REPORT" (2/9/1999)
http://www.gspm.org/csae/cgans5.html
==
* As far as California information is concerned, the research is proving to be more elusive. Here are some examples of what I have found so far:
"Are There Winners and Losers? Race, Ethnicity, and California's Initiative Process," by Zoltan Hajnal and Hugh Louch. Public Policy Institute of California (2001) http://www.iandrinstitute.org/New%20IRI%20Website%20Info/I&R%20Research%20and%20History/I&R%20Studies/Hajnal%20Louch%20-%20Are%20There%20Winners%20and%20Losers%20-%20Race%20in%20CA%20IRI.pdf
"Report Documents Latino Demographics and Voting Behavior in California," by Kathleen Scalise, Public Affairs (November 4, 1998) http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1998/1104/latinos.html
"Political Participation and Citizenship." California Latino Demographic Databook, 3rd Edition. (Dec. 31, 2003) http://ucdata.berkeley.edu/new_web/latino/chapters/Chapter7.pdf
"Voting in California's 1998 General Election." California's Opinion Index. (Jan. 1999) http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/COI-98-99-Jan-Election.pdf
"Latino Voting in California Surged in 1996 Election." Los Angeles Times. (Dec.31,1997) http://www.azteca.net/aztec/immigrat/politics2.html
"Minorities in California Reach Majority Status." California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative. Volume 4, Issue 7, (November 29, 2000) http://www.nilc.org/ciwc/nwsltr/caup7.00.PDF
"California Recall Voting: Nuggets of California Gold for Voting Behavior," by Michael P. McDonald, George Mason University. The Forum: Vol. 1: No. 4, Article 6. (2003) http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol1/iss4/art6/ (You can apply for free access to this article with link on the right)
"Anglos still a majority at the polls," by Dan Walters. The Fresno Bee. (Dec. 29, 2002) http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/walters/story/5740455p-6712301c.html
Some examples from Lexis Academic: (all are full text on Lexis)
-----------------------------------
Ventura County Star (California), November 18, 2000, Saturday, News; Pg. A14, 997 words, What election? Many don't know or care APATHY LIVES: Lack of cable TV among reasons given for not keeping up with Bush-Gore battle, Tom Kisken Staff writer
The Daily News of Los Angeles, October 15, 2000, Sunday,, VIEWPOINT,, 816
words, VOTE? WHO, ME? MAYBE FOR EXTRA CREDIT; THERE'S NOBODY TO HATE, SO WHY
CAST OUR BALLOTS?, JANE ROBISON
The San Francisco Chronicle, MARCH 17, 2002, SUNDAY,, FINAL EDITION, NEWS;,
Pg. A23, 903 words, Low primary turnout a sign of the times, say voting experts, Joe Garofoli
Ventura County Star (California), November 13, 2002 Wednesday, Editorials;
Pg. B08, 747 words, Herdt: Elite class of state voters Older, wealthier, whiter
electorate rejects Prop. 52, Timm Herdt
Alameda Times-Star (Alameda, CA), June 8, 2003 Sunday, OP-ED, 840 words, So
who's to blame, us or them -- and who is them?
Scripps Howard News Service, June 04, 2003, Wednesday, COMMENTARY, 859
words, So who's to blame, us or them - and who's them?, PETER SCHRAG
San Gabriel Valley Tribune (San Gabriel Valley, CA), September 16, 2002
Monday, 987 words, Democracy is a precious and costly form of government; Fed up Voters No Longer Going to the Polls
======
At this point, I believe your question is well beyond the scope of a $200 search unless you can place a reasonable number on the amount of references you require in an answer. Since you need this information by February 5th, I want to be very clear about your expectations. I do not want to risk many more hours of research, only to post a list of references that you feel is incomplete. To find "all" the published information about this topic is a monumental task!
Please let me know your feelings on this. I will be happy to continue on if we can come to an agreement on a reasonable number of references, as well as the time-frame for published data.
Thanks!
umiat
Thank you for your clarification. At this point, I will gracefully bow out. I have invested a significant amount of time researching your question as originally posted and I believe I have provided you with some good references that will still be applicable toward your newer, more narrowly focused clarification. However, since we have come to no agreement on the number of references which you would consider acceptable, and I cannot guarantee that I can provide you with "an inventory of "all" research/surveys/polls", there is no way I can comfortably continue on this project. I will be happy to reconsider if you are interested in having me locate whatever studies I can find within a reasonable timeframe, as opposed to locating "all" that have been published.
I sincerely hope you can use some of the California studies I have posted which include information on minority nonvoters.
umiat
My second question is just an extension of the first.
I do not care about research that addresses why so many Democrats (or Republicans or independents) did not vote in a particular election, etc.; I am only interested in barriers and incentives to registering to vote, or voting, among narrow demographic groups who are habitual non-voters. Young people, economically disenfranchised, minority groups, recent immigrants, children of immigrants.
As for the published sources, while I'm interested in having an inventory of all research/surveys/polls, I apologize for the inference that I also want an inventory of every newspaper article written about research done by others -- I do not. If, however, a survey is conducted that addresses my questions, and the survey results are published in the form of a magazine article, then I would like that included in my inventory. Thanks. I hope this is helpful. In case you need further clarication, I will try to check my emial more frequently. Being the weekend, I typicallly would not be online so much. During the week, between 8am and 5pm PST, I am online and checking mail constantly.
#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.# |