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Registration, Turnout, and the Electoral Representativeness of U.S. State Electorates

Washington State University

Robert D. Brown

University of Mississippi

Gerald C. Wright

Indiana University

This study examines state-level political participation in an analysis that integrates registration, turnout, and the representativeness of U.S. state electorates. The authors use data aggregated from the 1984 and 1986 November Current Population Surveys to obtain estimates of overall and group registration and turnout across the states. Results indicate that long-term political factors, such as party elite ideology and the restrictiveness of registration requirements, are the principal determinants of state registration levels. Liberal party elites and lenient registration requirements are especially critical to the registration of the poor and the less educated. Subsequently, a greater level of registration translates into heavier turnout both for the overall state electorate and for various demographic groups within this electorate. Greater turnout, in turn, produces a more representative active electorate.

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