Why They Stay Home: Low Propensity Voters in Local Elections

• In Event: Urban Inequalities: Causes and Redresses

Abstract

Local elections routinely produce the lowest levels of voter turnout in the U.S., but we have still yet to fully explain why city residents refrain from participating. Early studies suggest that high propensity voters in local elections are motivated by economic interests or their high socioeconomic status. Over the past two decades, studies with more direct focus on low propensity voters have revealed the way in which different institutional barriers can suppress turnout. This has resulted in institutions that were designed to give voice to the voiceless becoming dominated by the usual suspects: individuals or groups with resources - be they monetary, educational, and/or racial privilege. We add to this existing literature by asking low propensity voters about their own views on participation. In a large scale cross-sectional survey, with an oversample of low-propensity voters we find that a lack of participation stems from two basic orientations: a lack of knowledge about the election process and feelings of a lack of efficacy in the local political process. We find different demographic traits correlate with these orientations. We argue that to understand why local institutions fail, we need a better sense of the hurdles to participation.

Authors

• Jonathan Collins, Brown University

• Jessica Luce Trounstine, University of California, Merced