Warum die meisten Amerikaner nicht wählen, einige aber doch: Zur historischen Entwicklung der Wahlbeteiligung bei amerikanischen Präsidentschaftswahlen

Abstract

The article describes and analyzes the decline of electoral turnout in U.S. presidential elections since the 19th century. At the 1996-elections only about one half of the citizens went to the polls. Part of the explanation lies in the peculiarities of American electoral statistics, another in the restrictive voter registration procedures. If turnout is calculated as a percentage of the registered population rather than as percent of the population at voting age, turnout reaches European levels of 80 percent or more. However, recent reforms which eased registration did not entail increased turnout. Whereas electoral participation grew among the black population and in the southern states, white citizens in northern states increasingly abstained from voting. De-mobilization was particularly marked among citizens with low income or little education. In the most recent election, only about one third of the lower strata went to the polls. Class-specific differences in turnout have been growing in the most recent period which was marked by an increasing polarization of incomes. The electoral bias in favor of the upper strata promotes a policy production which neglects redistributional and social policy issues.