Poor people are typically democracy’s missing persons. But the patterns of low-income voting show what really motivates the voters on election day.
Elections
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Clean Elections, How To
Public frustration with political influence peddling hasn’t been this high since Watergate, and thanks to Maine we finally have an example of how to do reform right.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Motor Voter or Motivated Voter?
The Motor Voter law was supposed to dramatically increase turnout and give marginalized groups more voice in politics. Unfortunately, getting these groups to register doesn’t do any good if you don’t give them reason to vote.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Controversy: Why Did Clinton Win?
Will Marshall and Mark Penn debate Robert L. Borosage and Stanley B. Greenberg.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Turnout Imperative
Low voter participation favors conservatives. If liberals want to avoid a reprise of 1994 in 1998, they have to make turnout a top priority — and fortunately some are already hard at work.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Drift or Mandate?: The 1996 Elections
The voters’ decision in November will determine whether the late 1990s usher in America’s “fourth Republic.”
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Take the Initiative, Please: Referendum Madness in California
Ballot initiatives were supposed to make government more responsive to the people. In California, a series of referenda has had just the opposite effect.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Damage Report
T he past two years have humbled both liberals and conservatives-or should have. The 1992 election, liberals hoped, would set in motion a new cycle of progressivism. It didn’t. After the 1994 election, the new conservative leaders of Congress expected to stage a revolution. They didn’t. First President Clinton failed to secure the bolder aspects […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Dead Center
The centrist politics of the election produced a shrunken electorate and mandate. Are there fresh sources of progressive energy at the grass roots?
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Watch What You Wish For
In pursuit of campaign finance reform, many seek to reverse the precedent established by the Supreme Court in 1975, protecting campaign expenditures as free speech. But if the Court’s ruling is overturned, the general protections of the First Amendment might be severely narrowed.