Enabling Democracy: Disability and Voter Turnout

• Published in: Political research quarterly Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 167 - 190
• Main Authors: Schur, Lisa, Shields, Todd, Kruse, Douglas, Schriner, Kay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 260 SO. CENTRAL CAMPUS DRIVE, RM. 252, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84112-9153, USA University of Utah 01.03.2002; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Absentee voting; Age; Cultural Capital; Democracy; Demography; Disabilities; Disability; Elderly; Elections; Handicapped; Handicapped people; Mobility; Physically Handicapped; Political Participation; Political psychology; Political science; Polls & surveys; Social psychology; Voter registration; Voter turnout; Voters; Voting; Voting Behavior; Voting behaviour; Voting turnout
• ISSN: 1065-9129; 1938-274X
• DOI: 10.1177/106591290205500107

How likely are the millions of Americans with disabilities to participate in politics? What insights do their experiences provide into overall participation levels and determinants? This article reports the results of a nationally representative household telephone survey of 1,240 people-stratified to include 700 people with disabilities-following the November 1998 elections. Voter turnout is found to be 20 percentage points lower among people with disabilities than among people without disabilities who have otherwise-similar demographic characteristics. Other standard predictors of turnout such as political efficacy and mobilization explain only a small portion of this gap. There is great variation within the disability sample: the lower turnout is concentrated among people with disabilities who are not employed or who are age 65 or older, who have had recent onset of a disabling condition, and who have difficulty going outside alone (despite the availability of absentee ballots). The findings suggest that disability, apart from imposing resource constraints, often has social and psychological effects that decrease voter turnout through decreased social capital and identification with mainstream society, particularly among senior citizens. The findings also support the idea that general mobility and major life transitions can be important influences on voter turnout in general, and raise questions on the causal relations among age, employment, efficacy, and voter turnout that should be a focus of future research.