AP U.S. Government and Politics · Free-response skill

Apply participation ideas to a turnout scenario

The move. Name the participation concept at work in a campaign or turnout scenario, explain its effect, and say how a law or institution could change the outcome.

How to do it

  1. Name the concept first, in plain course terms: a turnout factor, a registration rule, a campaign strategy, or a party or group function.
  2. Tie it to a detail of the scenario, such as a number, a rule or a quote, and say what it does to who votes or who wins.
  3. When a part asks how a law or institution could change the outcome, name a real rule, law or body, then say the step by which it would change behavior.
  4. Answer every part in order. One to three plain, accurate sentences per part are enough.

Practice prompt Try it

Fictional scenario. In the state of Westmoor, citizens must register to vote at least 30 days before Election Day, and polling places are open only on Election Day itself. In the last midterm election, 61 percent of eligible citizens aged 65 and older voted, but only 22 percent of eligible citizens aged 18 to 24 did. This year a candidate for governor, Dana Ruiz, plans to spend almost all of her advertising budget on mailers and local TV news ads aimed at older voters. Her campaign manager says, "Young people don't show up, so we won't spend money on them."

Use the scenario to answer each part.

  1. Give one reason, apart from Westmoor's election rules, that older citizens tend to vote at higher rates than young citizens.
  2. Explain how the 30-day registration deadline could lower turnout among Westmoor's youngest voters.
  3. Explain how Ruiz's ad plan could affect the turnout gap between older and younger voters in Westmoor.
  4. Name one law or change in how Westmoor runs elections that could raise turnout among young voters, and say how it would help.

Write each part, then check yourself against the checklist. Nothing you type here is saved or graded.

Check yourself and see a model answer

Checklist

Our own checklist of what a full answer does, one line per point. Tick each one your response earns.

0 of 5 points

Model answer, annotated

(a) Older citizens have usually voted in many past elections, so voting has become a habit for them. Many also rely on programs such as Social Security and Medicare, so they have a direct stake in who wins.

  • Point 1 Gives two accurate reasons, habit and a direct stake in programs, neither tied to Westmoor's rules.

(b) Young people move often for school or new jobs, and each move can mean registering again. Under a 30-day deadline, a young citizen who moves or first pays attention to the race in the final weeks has already missed the chance to register, so fewer 18- to 24-year-olds can vote.

  • Point 2 Links the deadline to lower youth turnout through frequent moves and late attention to the race.

(c) Because Ruiz skips young voters, they get fewer reminders and less information about the race, while older voters get more. That can widen the gap beyond the 39 points seen in the last midterm (61 percent minus 22 percent), so low youth turnout keeps feeding itself.

  • Point 3 States an effect, a wider gap, and the reason: less campaign contact for the young and more for the old.

(d) Westmoor could adopt same-day registration, which lets citizens register at the polling place on Election Day. A young voter who just moved or missed the old deadline could then register and vote in a single trip.

  • Point 4 Names a real election change, same-day registration.
  • Point 5 Says how it helps: a voter who moved or missed the deadline can register and vote at once.