News Release

Rice scholar available to comment on non-voters in 2008 election

Book Announcement

Rice University

Lyn Ragsdale, the dean of social sciences and the Radoslav A. Tsanoff Chair of Political Affairs at Rice University, is available to discuss the large segment of the electorate that is unlikely to vote in the Nov. 4 election -- the subject of her forthcoming book, "The American Non-Voter."

Despite predictions of extremely high voter turnout in the upcoming election, more than a third of eligible voters are expected to sit it out. Who are these nonvoters and why do they choose to abstain?

Ragsdale's book looks at the pattern of nonvoting over the past generation and groups nonvoters into three distinct subsets. The first group may be considered the "traditional" nonvoter: citizens who pay little attention to politics or civic life. The second group, by contrast, is extremely aware of political developments but refuses to take part because they dislike both candidates and are angry about the choices available. The third group follows politics up to a point, but chooses not to vote because they don't see any meaningful differences between candidates and parties and doubt their ability to influence election results.

According to Ragsdale's research, the second group comprises the largest segment of nonvoters, from 30 percent to 40 percent. The "traditional" nonvoters make up less than a third of those who don't cast ballots, while the third group constitutes the balance. These percentages are expected to remain unchanged in 2008, Ragsdale said.

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Ragsdale, an expert on the history of the presidency, was the head of the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago before coming to Rice. Previously, she was on the faculty at the University of Arizona for 20 years.

Ragsdale received her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1982. She is the past president of the Western Political Association and has served as the editor of Political Research Quarterly. She has written four books on the American presidency and U.S. Congress. Her latest book, "Vital Statistics on the Presidency: Third Edition," is coming out in October.


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