Discrepancies between Voter Turnout and Citizen Participation
Jodie Hemerda
April 1, 2004
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed... (Hancock, 1777)
While the Declaration of Independence laid the groundwork for democracy in the United States, no other individual has defined democracy better or more memorably than Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address with, “government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Lincoln, 1863).
In order for a democracy to truly represent its people, its citizens must participate; otherwise, the government only represents its active citizens. In the 1996 National Household Education Survey on Adult Civic Involvement in the United States, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement found
Persons who are white and not Hispanic are more likely than others to have said that they voted in the past 5 years. Eighty percent of white, non-Hispanics reported voting in contrast to 57 percent of those of another race/ethnicity (table 5). (1997, 5)
Using data from the 2000 US Census, this voting discrepancy leaves non-whites counting as only five percent of the voting population, even though they represent twenty-five percent. The same study found that non-whites were as likely as whites to contribute money to a political candidate or cause, equally as likely to work for a candidate, political party or cause, equally likely to attend a public meeting, and more likely to participate in a protest of boycott (ibid, pp. 8-11).
Roker, Player and Coleman found evidence that contradicts that young people are not participant citizens, but rather like minorities choosing to be involved in political activities while abstaining from voting. For example:
 | membership of Amnesty International's youth section grew from 1300 in 1988 to 15,000 in 1995; |
| of those applying to do full-time voluntary work with Community Service Volunteers, 60% are aged under 18; |
| membership of the youth wing of Greenpeace increased from 80,000 in 1987 to 420,000 in 1995; |
| a 1991 report from the Volunteer Centre UK (now the National Centre for Volunteering) demonstrated that 55% of 18-24 year-olds had been involved in some kind of voluntary activity in the last year. |
Further, a National Youth Agency report (October, 1996) showed that many young people are also involved in party politics. In 1995 Young Labour had 28,000 paid-up members, the Young Conservatives 20,000 youth members, and the Liberal Democrats 5000 youth members. (1999)
One widely held belief for general low voter turnout and low participation in democratic activism has been apathy. In a previous research paper, even I found myself too quick in judging the American people, “Whether resulting from laziness, ignorance or apathy, the United States government represents only a fraction of its citizens” (Hemerda, 2002, 8). Yet this evidence of nonwhite and young adult volunteerism and community involvement lead me to believe that their voting trends represent a lack of faith in the voting system. And who can blame them... the last decade has brought us an unelected administration that caters to its financial contributors!
But a huge part of the problem is a bit like the chicken and the egg conundrum. Only here we have nonwhites and young adults not voting because they feel that the current political candidates do not speak to them and those candidates not speaking to them because they do not perceive them as viable voting bases.
In the meantime, I feel better knowing that our country hasn’t fallen victim to apathy, yet I worry about the political power in this country failing to respond to the needs of its nonwhite and young adult citizens.
Hancock, John (1777). The Declaration of Independence.
Lincoln, Abraham (1863). The Gettysburg Address.
Roker, Debi; Player, Katie; Coleman, John (1999). Young People's Voluntary and Campaigning Activities as Sources of Political Education.Oxford Review of Education; Mar-Jun99, Vol. 25 Issue 1/2, p185, 14p.
United States Census (2000). American Fact Finder.
United States Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement (1997). 1996 National Household Education Survey on Adult Civic Involvement in the United States.