MR. ARELLANO, A.P. GOVERNMENT CHAPTER SIX STUDY QUESTIONS . Why is voter participation lower in the United States than in European countries? Would one not expect voter participation to be higher here, because more offices are up for election and therefore the election "means more"? Is there any reason to suppose that more people might tum out where fewer offices are elective? What have been the policy consequences of a broader electorate? Which extensions of the suffrage have changed policy outcomes, and which have mattered little? |. Why do so do few Americans vote? What could be done to increase voter turnout? Look at the lists of costs and benefits. Would a program of reforms to increase voting turnout need to focus on the costs of voting, the benefits, or both? Which do current reform proposals do? |. Why not simply do as Australia and Italy do and make voting compulsory? If you do not want to use coercion to induce voting, why not pay people to vote? If elections are a "public good” in which all citizens have a stake, why should we depend on unpaid voluntary action? We don't depend on volunteers to put out fires, to police the city, or to repair the streets. Why are elections less important? Are they different? . Does it matter if so many people don't care enough to come out and vote? Why is a large tumout a good thing? We say, rightly, that we have free speech in this country, ‘even though most people have nothing particularly controversial or interesting to say. Why is our country less "democratic" if people simply choose not to vote? Why should members of Congress worry about public opinion, given its ignorance about them? . What sorts of people are overrepresented among those who participate a great deal? ‘What political implications does this fact have? Does this bias in participation suggest a bias in the policies that the government will adopt? If so, what sort? Do Americans participate more or less than citizens of other nations? Why does the American patter of participation differ from that in other nations? . What forms of political participation have become more common in recent years? Which are less common now? Why do you think this is the case? . Do American youth differ from European youth in respect to political participation? Do the more technocratic youth participate less frequently here? Does the difference between "social and cultural specialists" and "technocrats" have any relevance in the