Political Participation in National Elections

f?

1964* 1966 1968* Percent who reported that they registered to vote

1970 1972* 1974 1976* 1978 1980*
„_ .j. Percent who reported

that they VOted •Presidential Election Year

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 151

Voter turnout in other democratic nations is much higher:

_L Percent of Voting Age Population

90 -

80

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и з 5

T

8°

Several factors may contribute to these differences in voter participation: —Unlike most of the nations shown on the graph, the United States requires early voter registration.

—Election campaigns tend to be much longer in the United States than in many other nations. After following campaigns that sometimes begin a year or more before the election, many Americans lose interest and do not vote. —American elections are always held on Tuesdays, a normal working day, whereas elections in many other nations are held on weekends. —The American two-party system may contribute to low voter turnout because voters' choice is limited.

—The other democratic nations shown on the graph have parliamentary systems, in which the outcome of the election determines both the executive and legislative branches of government. Voters in these countries may feel that their vote carries more weight.

The United States Constitution established a system in which the people have the right, whether they exercise it or not, to influence the direction of government.

part в Texts

Perspective of a Public Man

An Interview with Hubert Humphrey

The late Senator Hubert Humphrey was a leading figure in American government for more than 30 years. He served as mayor of Minneapolis, United States senator, vice president and was the Democratic party's candidate for president in 1968. He was an outspoken champion of civil rights, a strong advocate of nuclear disarmament and the author of much legislation on both domestic and foreign policy issues.

In this interview with CLOSE UP, conducted in 1977, Senator Humphrey discusses his long experience in public life and the importance of inspiration and motivation in effecting change.

QUESTION All of the problems and policies that you have been discussing emphasize the need for leader­ship of the highest caliber in the halls of government. What are the qualities which make someone an effec­tive leader of the people?

Senator Humphrey: Motivation. The difference bet­ween a great president and just a president is whether or not he can motivate people to greater achievements. As Teddy Roosevelt said, "You have to make the White House a bully pulpit." You have to be a com­bination of educator and evangelist. You have to move people. What we need in our society today is a kind of clarion call. People also need to learn to have pri­orities, because you can't do everything. That's where leadership comes in.

As a senator, I've always felt that my job is more than passing legislation. I see my role in politics as be­ing the cutting edge of progress. I've spent most of my time out with the people, planting ideas by talking with hundreds of audiences. I've taken a lot of razzing for it, but I have my own methodology. I've tried to be a teacher as well as a senator. To do this you have to take your message out to the people. To be a teacher, you have to have more than a classroom, you've got to have students. You've got to have more than a rostrum, you've got to have people who will listen and you have to make your message sufficiently simple and yet profound. The good teacher is the one who knows how to simplify great, difficult problems and, at the same time, make them interesting so that he holds his audience. You have to recognize that it requires repeti­tion. You must keep in mind that people can only ab­sorb so much at any one session. You repeat, repeat, repeat with adaptation so that you make it interesting. It's like a song: Even the most beautiful classical music maybe has just two or three themes in it, repeated time after time in different variations. That is what a leader, what a teacher, has to do.

Hubert Humphrey

Another part of being a leader is being willing to run the risk of unpopularity. I don't like people in public life, particularly as presidents, mayors and governors, who can't make decisions. You have to make decisions.

Sometimes people come to me and say, "Well, the reason I have to vote like this is that the Gallup poll showed this or that." The Gallup poll is a momentary, current, unscientific survey of what is called public opi­nion. The important question is, "What do you think is right?" Now you don't ignore public opinion, but if you have a strong conviction, you do it. I, for ex­ample, had a strong conviction about civil rights legisla­tion. There wasn't much public opinion on my side— I'll guarantee you that—and surely not among the political powerhouses. I ran right smack bang into all of them. But I felt I was right. And, if you feel you're right, you stay with it. Yet you also recognize that you can't get everything you want on day one. It may be a long, arduous process.

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 153

1. continued

QUESTION: What advice would you give to young people who mught be contemplating careers in politics, about the pitfalls and the rewards of public service?

Senator Humphrey: When you are involved in anything, you have to expect criticism. You have to constantly ask yourself, am I prepared to do that? You can always run away from problems and hide out; many people do. If you are going to be involved, you must be willing to be criticized for your inadequacies and your limitations. This is especially true in public life, where you are constantly under examination.

Some young people today feel that it isn't worth it. Why go through all the sweat? Why put up with it? Let somebody else do it. But they forget that politics is another word for people. Politics is the people's business, particularly in a democracy. If the people

don't take care of their business by participating, by getting involved, then they will "get the business." While you may not think that your individual effort amounts to much, remember that every person sitting on the sidelines gives those that are involved that much more power.

I always try to point out that while great decisions may carry the name tag of one or two leaders, in fact many more people are involved. Great decisions are the products of a kind of digestive process that takes place in the whole society, in which all individuals can express their feelings on new ideas and plans.

In this process, we look to the younger generation, to those who are filled with the love of life and with bright ideals. They've got to contribute. If they are in­volved, then politics will really be the people's business.

Gallup poll: a special count of opinions done by questioning a representative section of the population. George Horace Gallup, born 1901, statistician, founded the American Institute of Public Opinion.

Teddy Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) U.S. President 1901-1909.

Q A President's Mission

George Bush's Nomination Acceptance Speech (excerpt)

is to me the presidency provides an incomparable opportunity for "gentle persuasion."

I hope to stand for a new harmony, a greater tolerance. We've come far, but I think we need a new harmony among the races in our country. We're on a journey to a new century, and we've got to leave the tired old baggage of bigotry behind.

Some people who are enjoying our prosperity have forgotten what it's for. But they diminish our triumph when they act as if wealth is an end in itself.

There are those who have dropped their stand­ards along the way, as if ethics were too heavy and slowed their rise to the top. There's graft in city hall, the greed on Wall Street; there's influence peddling in Washington, and the small corruptions of everyday ambition.

But you see, I believe public service is honorable. And every time I hear that someone has breached the public trust it breaks my heart.

I wonder sometimes if we have forgotten who we

are. But we're the people who sundered a nation rather than allow a sin called slavery - we're the people who rose from the ghettoes and the deserts.

We weren't saints - but we lived by standards. We celebrated the individual - but we weren't self-centered. We were practical - but we didn't live only for material things. We believed in getting ahead - but blind ambition wasn't our way.

The fact is, prosperity has a purpose. It is to allow us to pursue "the better angels" to give us time to think and grow. Prosperity with a purpose means taking your idealism and making it concrete by certain acts of goodness. It means helping a child from an unhappy home learn how to read -and I thank my wife Barbara for all her work in literacy. It means teaching troubled children through your presence that there's such a thing as reliable love. Some would say it's soft and insuffi­ciently tough to care about these things. But where is it written that we must act as if we do not care, as if we are not moved?

Well I am moved. I want a kinder, gentler nation.

Two men this year ask for your support. And