Policy Differences Between Voters and Non-Voters in American Elections

Abstract

AN IMPORTANT concern in any polity is the extent to which citizens have a voice in public affairs. In representative democracies like America citizens have the opportunity to vote in free elections for public officials whom they most prefer for policy or other reasons. Yet many Americans do not exert the required initiative to register to vote. Barely half of the voting age population voted in the 1980 presidential election, and turnout for less important offices is even lower. Many have expressed the concern that certain types of individuals with specific policy preferences are less likely to vote, and that this may translate into the election of officials and the implementation of policies disapproved by these citizens or adverse to their interests. Pomper (1980: 179-205) after examining the history of race relations in the South especially argues that inability or failure to exercise the franchise can significantly harm the civil liberties and economic welfare of the uninvolved. Key (1961: 186) observes that the opinions of non-voters may have slight weight in the political process. Other studies also conclude that more politically active citizens influence public policy to be more consistent with their own policy preferences, which differ from the preferences of the inactive (Verba and Nie, 1972: 308). In this paper I examine the extent to which there are policy differences between voters and non-voters in presidential and midterm election years over a twenty-eight year time span.