Voter Apathy Research Articles

System failure: it's not just the media — the whole political system has failed

AbstractThis paper provides a critique of attempts in the field of political communication to explain apparent voter apathy and declining electoral turnout. The response of many commentators is either to blame the media for the problem or to see the media as the solution to any problem that might exist. First, the paper examines the ‘blame the media’ school of thought—as exemplified by liberal commentators in the UK and the USA. Secondly, the paper focuses on the ‘optimists’ who argue that the spin/media nexus is either morally neutral or may actually be improving citizen involvement.The paper argues that both approaches are flawed at the level of conceptualisation and of methodology. The narrow conceptualisation of the field means that even in the unusual cases where scholars look beyond the question of elections, the research agenda is still fixed at the level of media power and not on how the media fit into a wider system of power relations. Most obviously, the field tends to avoid the question of political and economic outcomes.The paper ends by suggesting that the problem of disengagement from formal politics is a response to the crisis of legitimacy in the institutions of democracy in the USA and UK. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications

Talking past each other: Journalists, readers and local newspaper reporting of general election campaigns in the UK

AbstractDrawing on an extensive database of local press reporting of the last four general elections (1987, 1992, 1997 and 2001), as well as contemporary interviews with journalists and editors, this paper argues that local press coverage of the constituency campaign has changed markedly since 1987, and in ways which may contribute to diminishing voter interest and participation in elections.Significantly, journalists do not perceive themselves as the ‘cause’ of voter apathy, but their efforts to ‘lighten up’ election coverage and report local election issues, contrast starkly with readers' preference for more serious reporting of the national agenda. Journalists and readers appear to be talking past each other in the pages of the local press. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications

An Exploratory Analysis of Local Government Failure in South Africa

This exploratory paper uses public choice theory to assess the susceptibility of South African municipal councils to government failure using the taxonomy of local government failure developed by Dollery and Wallis (2001) and extended by Byrnes and Dollery (2002). The paper also seeks to expand this typology of local government failure by including an additional category termed ‘administrative incapacity and forced integration'. Various kinds of empirical evidence are used to evaluate the performance of South African municipalities within the confines of the expanded taxonomy. The evidence seems to show that, in the contemporary South African institutional milieu at least, municipalities are more prone to government failure than higher levels of government in terms of ‘voter apathy', ‘councillor capture', ‘iron triangles', ‘fiscal illusion', ‘political entrepreneurship', and ‘administrative incapacity and forced integration'. These tentative findings are broadly in line with the results obtained by Byrnes and Dollery (2002) on local government failure in the Australian state of New South Wales.

The media and the 2003 Welsh Assembly election

This article explores the media coverage of the 2003 Welsh Assembly Elections, based on analysis conducted by the Wales Media Forum for the Electoral Commission. It points out that while television was the key source of election news, large numbers of people appeared to access little or no campaign news. This is traced to the structural weakness of the media in Wales, but also because the media treated the election as a ‘second‐order’ election which was given little prominence (although total coverage was quite extensive). The key theme of coverage was the issue of ‘voter apathy’, and this article offers several criticisms of this focus. It ends by outlining the need for political reporting that will reach beyond the ‘political junkies’ to engage with the largely disengaged ‘big brother’ generation.

E-democracy: potential for Political Revolution?

This article focuses on the traditional notions of democracy and governance in the context of the recent shock first-round election results in France. The results prima facie suggest voter apathy and disengagement from the democratic process. However, the spontaneous street protests confirm that voters are not apathetic about democracy, rather they are dissatisfied with the current model of government and the unresponsive nature of government. It will be argued that the interactive nature of Internet technology has the potential to reinvigorate the democratic process and re-engage citizens positively in political life.

Serpent in the Bosom: The Rise and Fall of Slobodan Milošević by Lenard J. s> Cohen (review)

378 SEER, 8i, 2, 2003 financial system as well as macroeconomic policies before and afterthe I998 financial crisis.Jeifries rounds off the review of economic developments with a discussion on the changing level of the quality of living as well as internationalaid. The review of political developments is divided into four sections. First, Jeffries discussesthe political reformsthat led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the establishmentof the CIS. In particular,he discussesthe initial relationshipbetween Russia and other post-Soviet states. Second, the author discussescentre-peripheryrelations with a specific look at the federal system and the Chechen Crisis. The third section contains several chapters that complete a chronology of political developments since I992. Finally,Jeffries turnshis attention to securitywith a discussionof militaryand foreign affairs. Specifically, this section discusses the relationship between Russia and the 'West'in the context of such issuesas disarmamentand Kosovo. Truly, Jeffries does offer a 'handbook' of Russian economic and political development fit for scholars,practitioners,and students. The book's greatest achievement lies in Jeffries's ability to produce an amazingly resourceful discussionbased on an extensive review of literature.Jeffries'sinability to go into great detail on many issuesis limited by the level of analysison which the author based his research. However, Jeffries shows an amazingly clear understandingof post-Soviet developments in Russia by touching on such a wide variety of differentissues. It would be easy to criticize the book for not offeringa more in-depth analysisof why Russia has come to thispoint, except that, asthe authorclearlyadmits,he isnot apoliticalscientist,econometrician, or an economic theorist. Having said this, however, there still exists a failure to relyon an explicitmethodology on which to base thisreview,if forno other reason than to give the discussiona greatersense of structure.Needless to say, as a 'handbook'of economic and political developments in the 'New' Russia, Jeffriessuppliesus with a remarkableresource. Institutefor PoliticsandInternational Studies D. J. GALBREATH University ofLeeds Cohen, Lenard J. Serpent in theBosom.7he RiseandFall of Slobodan Milos'evic. Revised and updated edition. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 2002. xix + 438 pp. Maps. Tables. Illustrations.Notes. Index. ?2 I.50. OF all the formerYugoslavleaders, Serbia'sSlobodan Milosevic has received by far the most media and scholarly attention. Generally viewed as the key instigatorof Yugoslavia'sviolent disintegrationand of some of the worst war crimes committed on European soil since World War II, Milosevic has been the subject of at least six biographies, as well as numerous other studies devoted to his regime. Among theseworks,LenardCohen's Serpent intheBosom is undoubtedly the most complete and far-reaching account of the complex historical, ideological and contextual factors that gave rise to MilogeviC's regime, sustainedit forover a decade and finallybroughtit down. In view of the fact that the thorny 'Kosovo question' represented the cornerstoneof Serbiannationalistmobilization in the post-Tito i980s, as well REVIEWS 379 as Milosevics trump card in his rise to power, Cohen begins by providing a thorough and balanced analysis of the conflicting Albanian and Serbian claims to Kosovo and the role played by both national myths and genuine historicalgrievances. He examines the perpetuation of ethnic polarization in the province under Communist rule and discusses the implications of the status reversal experienced by the Kosovo Serbs since the late i960s, which fuelledthe mythofvictimizationcentralto contemporarySerbiannationalism. Noting that until I987 Milosevic was a typical Communist apparatchik and a faithful 'Titoist', Cohen argues that Milosevic's adoption of an uncompromising and belligerent national policy represented a response to the seething nationalist discontent manifest in parts of the Serbian intelligentsia and political elite, as well as on a more grassroots level. Milosevic's political acumen consisted in tapping into deep-rooted collectivist and patriarchal tendencies in Serbianpolitical culture, which were resurfacingin the context of the post-Tito crisis. Propelling himself into power on the wings of a resurgent nationalist populism, Milosevic spent most of the I99OS manoeuvring his position to prevent himself being dragged down by the numerous hardshipsSerbia had to endure as a result of his policies and the steady decline in his popular support. Cohen examines the mechanisms and methods used by Milosevic to circumvent his political adversaries and growing voter apathy, providing a careful analysisof Serbian elites, society and politics. He assessesMilosevic's...

Democracy, Hiv/Aids And Citizen Participation: Focus on the 2004 South African Election

While debate about the impact of HIV / AIDS on socio-economic development has been rife and robust, the political discourse around the pandemic has tended somehow to lag far behind. It is now well established that HIV / AIDS represents not only a health catastrophe but, primarily, a development crisis. Yet only recently have we come to accept that the epidemic is, in fact, a governance crisis too. Much as the epidemic tends to have adverse effects on socio-economic development, it also has deleterious effects on democratic governance. This article thus teases out the possible impact of the HIV / AIDS epidemic on democracy, specifically focusing on citizen participation in South Africa. Within this discourse I deal with the extent to which we can explain voter participation trends between the 1994 and 2004 South African elections as informed, in part, by the debilitating effect of HIV / AIDS on both infected and affected citizens. If this is correct, HIV / AIDS is surely contributing to one of the dangers (or deficits) of modern democracy, namely voter apathy.

Individual Motivations, Perceived Media Importance, and Political Disaffection

Mass media have been blamed for distancing people from the political process by increasing cynicism and voter apathy. A telephone survey of 592 registered voters in Washington state tested a set of relationships among political involvement, perceived media importance, political disaffection, and efficacy. As hypothesized, political involvement was positively associated with the perceived importance of newspapers and radio talk shows. These, in turn, were negatively associated with cynicism and positively associated with efficacy. Cynicism was negatively associated with efficacy, while efficacy was positively associated with involvement. The results suggest that involvement is a key variable in the political decision making process through its relationships with orientations toward information sources. Thus, media can serve as a catalyst for involved citizen decision making. Scholars should attend to the motivational context individuals bring to the media when examining the role of the media in political decision making.

Elections and Public Opinion: The End of the Honeymoon?

LABOUR’s electoral honeymoon, already longer than that of any other government in modern times, came to an abrupt end during the year 2000. Earlier signs that the electorate was, if not disenchanted, certainly less enthusiastic about the New Labour project first surfaced in 1999. Elections to the new devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales saw Labour’s vote fall sharply from its 1997 general election level. Local elections in England held at the same time told a similar story and the European Parliament elections fought in June saw Labour win just 28% of the national vote—16 percentage points adrift of its 1997 support. These early warning signs were largely ignored because bad news from the ballot box was not reflected in the party’s opinion poll ratings. According to the polls, Labour was safely on course to achieve a second electoral term. During 2000, however, the government’s confidence began to falter as the polls swung against it, at first gently and then precipitately. Labour began the year believing that there were few obstacles in the way of its re-election; by its end such complacency had disappeared. Conservative confidence was buoyed by the government’s fall from grace, but the electorate still seemed wary of turning back to them and too often bad news followed good for the Opposition. A range of measures will be examined in order to assess how the state of public opinion and party popularity fluctuated throughout the year. Beginning with the opinion polls, we show how public opinion remained relatively stable for much of the time but then reacted in a highly volatile manner to political events during the early autumn. Following analysis of the polls, we then consider the elections to the newly created Greater London Authority. These provide evidence of a level of voter disenchantment with the mainstream political parties and a willingness to support a mayoral candidate without official party backing. Voter indifference or apathy was also in evidence at local elections in England, but it could not prevent the Conservatives from making sweeping gains. Finally, the focus moves to by-election contests, first parliamentary and then local, and how such contests might inform our understanding of both the political present and the electoral future.

Saint Mary of the Contra, Our Lady of Oliver North

This paper traces the evolution of (Catholic) church‐state relations from Nicaraguan independence through to 1998, showing how a symbiotic relationship has emerged whereby one makes recourse to the other in order to justify its existence and provide it with moral authority. This relationship, however, has been threatened on a number of occasions. First, by the advent of liberation theology during the Somoza period, second by the increasing secularisation of the FSLN regime during the 1980s. Recent years have seen the Catholic Church recapture its previous authoritative position in the national political arena, although increasing voter apathy and the growth of the Protestant Church movement could again threaten its position.

The Internet Will Drive Corporate Monitoring

Using the internet for shareholder proxy voting will not just save money. It will give shareholders unprecedented influence over the policies of large corporations, by making corporate monitoring possible. Rational voter apathy will be counteracted by the internet's ability to make information exchange cheap and easy. Likely benefits include higher profits, support for social goals, and more realistic levels of CEO pay. Compared to other countries, America has more stock held by individuals who use the internet, so America will lead this trend.

Democratic civility: the history and cross-cultural possibility of a modern political ideal

In the aftermath of the cold war, political commentators spoke ebulliently of the triumph of liberal democracy over its ideological rivals. Shortly thereafter, however, a surge of ethnic and religious violence raised doubts about whether democracy could survive outside Western culture. Similar concerns were soon raised even in Western nations by widespread citizen disengagement from the political process. Voter apathy, ideological conflict, and debates about cultural diversity intensified doubts about the continuing viability of democratic institutions. Throughout the whole world, then, few questions have come to define more clearly the challenge of our age than this: how to facilitate civil, free, and democratic interaction among citizens of multicultural societies.Democratic Civilityexamines the core requirements necessary to make democracy work. Subtly interweaving case studies and theoretical reflection, Hefner and his contributors examine the ideals, culture, development, and organization of civil democracy. Against a historical background, they consider today's challenges to democracy, asking whether international politics is destined to lead to a clash of civilizations, or whether civil and democratic ideas are indeed realizable in a multicultural world. Essays by Adam B. Seligman, Robert Wuthnow, Brigitte Berger, and Anton C. Zijderveld address subjects germane to the 'culture wars' controversy in the United States and other Western countries. And Daniel Chirot, Jose Casanova, Robert P. Weller, and S. Gordon Redding examine the prospects for democracy in non-Western, post-communist societies, in particular Chinese society and the Muslim world.Hefner's highly readable volume reaches the core of the ongoing debate between Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and Francis Fukuyama's The End of History - whether liberal democratic values are generalizable to non-Western societies, or realizable only in the West. Democratic Civility will be of interest to those in the fields of anthropology, sociology, history, political theory, and philosophy.

Paying for Congress

No abstract available.

Henry George and Europe

Abstract. The basic ideas of Henry George, 19th century American economist and social philosopher, were not novel in Denmark, which had a tradition of land value taxation and free trade. But they had special appeal for its smallholder farmers. They demanded that George's principles be applied more fully, getting all tax revenues from the land's unimproved value, so that taxes on buildings, personal property and wages could be abolished. Viggo Ullman's Danish‐Norwegian translation of Progress and Poverty won the commitment of folk school movement leaders and the intelligentsia. In 1903 large landowners gained control of the Liberal Party and proceeded to abolish the traditional land tax, producer of up to 50 percent of State revenues. The Radical Liberals split and took over, to some extent carrying out George's taxation principles. In 1919 a Georgist party, the “Retsforbundet” was founded; it won the balance of power in 1957. But lack of finances and organizing ability and growing voter apathy ended its progress.

Focus group research in a winning campaign

In this article, F. Michael Lorz reports on the use of opinion research and focus group studies—and some novel modifications of the latter—that delivered results in planning a strategy to pass a controversial ballot measure in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Lorz traces the work of a “communication advisory committee” which set out to determine if research could have a role in influencing an electorate which had rejected five school levies since 1969 to pass such a levy in 1982. The committee overcame serious obstacles—voter apathy, high unemployment, low morale among teachers and the school board, among other things—by adroitly targeting their messages to groups that their research told them were “persuadable” and by constantly refining that research to evaluate the results of their messages.

Motivations and Deterrents to Educational Use of “Intelligent Videodisc” Systems

The “intelligent videodisc” — a combination of advanced microprocessor, display, and storage technology — holds the potential for developing into a powerful instructional delivery system. In an inexpensive package, it could combine advanced computer-aided instruction (CAI) software power and display capability for audio, video, and textual programming. Attractive technically though it is, this system's real contribution will be that CAI will fit the institutional structure of education for the first time. In contrast to existing, large-scale CAI systems, this small-scale device could be purchased locally, e.g., by one teacher or administrator. Another unique attribute of this technology is its potential attractiveness to consumers. Acceptance in the home may speed acceptance in schools.Despite these unique characteristics, this new technology will face some of the same traditional barriers to innovation in education that have doomed other systems. It is likely that many teachers will retain their unwillingness to innovate using technology. Tight budgets will remain because of shrinking student populations and voter apathy. High costs might restrict software availability.This paper investigates these and other driving forces and barriers to use of the “intelligent videodisc” as a personal instructional delivery system. The paper can serve as a platform for a discussion of needs and opportunities for a Federal role in promoting educational utilization of this system.

Electoral Reform and Voter Participation: Federal Registration – A False Remedy for Voter Apathy. By Kevin P. Phillips and Paul H. Blackman. (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research and Stanford, Cal.: The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, 1975. Pp. 135. $3.00, paper.)

Electoral Reform and Voter Participation: Federal Registration – A False Remedy for Voter Apathy. By Kevin P. Phillips and Paul H. Blackman. (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research and Stanford, Cal.: The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, 1975. Pp. 135. $3.00, paper.)

Electoral Reform and Voter Participation: Federal Registration – A False Remedy for Voter Apathy. By Kevin P. Phillips and Paul H. Blackman. (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research and Stanford, Cal.: The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, 1975. Pp. 135. $3.00, paper.)

Electoral Reform and Voter Participation: Federal Registration – A False Remedy for Voter Apathy. By Kevin P. Phillips and Paul H. Blackman. (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research and Stanford, Cal.: The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, 1975. Pp. 135. $3.00, paper.)

The Triumph of Elites

J. Morgan Kousser. The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suf- frage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974. 319 pp. James Edward Wright. The Politics of Populism: Dissent in Colorado. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974. 314 pp. The United States, so barren of original political ideas, has been prolific in the creation of political systems. Since the emergence of the Republic, the shape arid size of the political universe have changed at least twice. With these changes have come shifts in campaign style, party life expectancy, party competition, and perhaps elite responsiveness. The first system, resting upon an electorate defined by property-holding, gave way in the early 19th century to a highly competitive system brought forth by universal white male suffrage and characterized by extensive participation in multi-party politics. During the middle and late 19th century, presidential elections typically mobilized three-quarters of the eligible voters; from 1824 to 1892, the vote margin between the two leading presidential candidates averaged 7.25% of the total, and the vote for other presidential candidates averaged 7.74%. The third system emerged after 1896, when the political universe contracted, as did the number of significant parties, and competition declined. By the 1920's barely half of the eligible voters were turning out for presidential elections; during 1896-1968, the average gap between the two top candidates increased to 12.5%, while the vote for minor presidential candi- dates dropped to 4.38%.1 Party competition has probably followed economic competition into the graveyard of 19th-century institutions. One analyst has plausibly argued that party collusion is now the rule, a situation made possible by widespread voter apathy. Secure in their own strongholds, Democrats and Republicans trade favours, dispense special privileges, undermine independent candidates, and generally sabotage attempts at reform.2 Such appears to be the price Americans have paid for stability.

An Investment Analysis of Vocational Programs Offered in Missouri Junior Colleges

Administrators of the public junior colleges in Missouri are faced with two major problems. First, there is an increasing number of students demanding post-secondary education. Second, apathy of voters and legislators toward financial support of our educational institutions is increasing. A study entitled Missouri Public Junior Colleges: A Report to the People revealed that in 1960 there were approximately 600,000 students enrolled in two-year institutions of higher education in the United States. The report further stated that in 1971 the enrollments would climb to 2,000,000 and that by 1980 the projected enrollments would approximate 4.4 million. This predicted growth pattern has been observed in Missouri with the enrollments increasing by approximately 20 percent per year.The report cited above also confirms the second major problem as state aid for Missouri junior colleges has been decreasing over the past few years. Voter apathy, although more evident in secondary schools, is a force that can affect the junior college as programs are expanded to meet the increasing student demand.