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Labor Unions and American Elections:
The Politics of Voter Mobilization in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections
The Politics of Low Turn Out Elections
As is well known, the politics of the United States is generally characterized by
very low rates of voter participation. (Only time will tell if the relatively high voter
turnout of 60 percent in 2004, still low by international standards, was an anomaly or a
new trend.) The causes of this high rate of voter abstention have been fiercely, if
inconclusively debated (Piven and Cloward, 1988; Putnam, 2001). Less attention has
been paid to the political consequences of elections in which so few voters participate and
to the opportunities low turnout elections provide to political actors. .
Because of the very low rates of voter participation, relatively small segments of
the population can have great influence over elections, if they vote at a high rate.
Presidential turnouts in the three elections before 2004 were in the range of 49 to 55
percent of the eligible electorate. Off year national elections have drawn about 36 to 39
percent of the voting age population to the polls. In recent elections, the popular vote for
the U.S. House of Representatives has been nearly evenly divided between the two
parties (Rimmerman, 2001). Republicans have retained control of the House of
Representatives by winning one to two percent more of the popular vote than the
Democrats. Because of low voter turnout, the votes of .36 to .72 percent of the eligible
electorate can be vital in determining the outcome of elections. At times, the search for a
small fraction of the electorate can lead politicians to seek political alliance with very
small portions of the American polity (Beachler, 2003).
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