What, Me Vote?

There are three big issues regarding turnout for elections in the US: The reasons for the fall in turnout. What explains the low and declining turnout? What institutional features of the electoral process affect turnout? Inequality in turnout by socioeconomic status. Does low or declining turnover skew the voting population toward higher education, income, occupation groups? The impact of turnout on policy outcomes. Does a skewed distribution of voting affect government policies in favor of the higher turnout groups? Does low turnout degrade the democratic process? This paper reviews what we know about these issues.