Subject:
Sociology
Material Type:
Module
Provider:
Ohio Open Ed Collaborative
Tags:
  • Oss0212
  • Sociology
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Education Standards

    Identify voting participation trends in the United States

    Overview

    OER Text material

    Power and Authority

    Types of Political Systems

    Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World. 14.4.1 This section reviews the concept of political ideology, and divisions among voters according to political ideology.  14.4.2 Voter participation rates and the influence of socioeconomic status on the voting process are also covered.

    Supplementary Material (Videos and Reading)

    Disenfranchised in Florida (Video)

     Description: Summary “Roderick Kemp is a 60-year-old Florida resident who recently had his voting rights revoked—despite having worked as a field organizer and voted for years. Kemp was arrested in the 1980s for cocaine possession and served a few months, but when the State of Florida re-discovered this they sent him a notice that he was not permitted to vote. Kemp is one of the 6.1 million Americans who can’t vote due to a felony charge. “I don’t have a voice. I’m like an anonymous person,” he says in this short film, Unforgiven. It was produced by Surya Productions for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.”

    “Why is voter turnout so low in the U.S.?” by Michael D. Regan

    PBS News Hour, November 6, 2016. Short article with links to different research papers on voter turnout.  Reasons offered include, level of democratic advancement, chaotic voting systems, and lack of competitive elections.

    Data

    Who Votes? Congressional Elections and the American Electorate: 1978-2014

    U.S. Census Bureau review of trends over time in American Congressional Elections.

    Voter Demographics in Pew Research Center

    Pew Research Center holds a large amount of data on different voter demographics and trends.

    Political Polarization, 1994-2017 in Pew Research Center

    This interactive resource allows users to review American’s political values over two decades according to questions asked via Pew surveys.

    How the Political Typology Groups Compare

    Summary “Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values and beliefs, as well as their partisan affiliation. Use this tool to compare the groups on key topics and their demographics.”

    Political Typology

    Students can use this to identify their own political ideology.