Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation and What We Can Do About It.

• Author: Kurtz, Karl
• Position: Book review

Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation and What We Can Do About It, by Stephen Macedo and 18 other authors. 2005. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 188 pages. $44.95 hardcover, $17.95 softcover.

This collection by the American Political Science Association's Standing Committee on Civic Education and Engagement is loaded with advice for improving civic participation. Of most interest to legislators and staff is a chapter dealing with the effects of public policy on citizen participation, especially voting. The recommendations in this chapter relating to voter turnout are particularly interesting because they go beyond the mechanisms of election laws and address other factors such as the potential effect of civic education and political competitiveness on political participation. Among them are four that are particularly well-grounded in academic research and should seriously be considered.

1. Mail polling place information and sample ballots to registered voters in advance of the election. There is evidence that this is particularly effective for those with only a high school education. Advance mailing of polling place information produces a 7 percent increase in turnout; sample ballots yield a 6 point increase.

2. Strengthen civic education in schools. Voting is a learned habit. Schools have great potential, mostly unrealized, to be an effective mechanism for improving civic engagement and dispositions.

3. Teach voting mechanics to high school students. A 1999 survey by the National Association of Secretaries of State reported that many young people don't go to the polls because they don't know how the machines work. A subsequent experiment showed that teaching the mechanics to students can increase turnout by 20 points or more.

4. Allow Election Day registration. Seven states currently allow same day voter registration. Recent studies show that it can increase overall turnout by 3 to 4 percent. It is particularly popular with young people, and has raised turnout by as much as 14 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds.

The authors have other recommendations that do not appear to have a strong research basis and may be advocated for reasons other than improving political participation. They would like Congress to reauthorize the voting materials provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires local governments to provide assistance, such as bilingual ballots, to voters in areas with low rates of...