Widening the participation gap: the effect of educational track on reported voting in England

This article explores the effect of tracked education in upper secondary on voting behaviour. It discusses two causal mechanisms that link tracked education to greater disparities of political participation: the curriculum and peer socialization. Data of Waves 1, 2, 5 and 7 of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) is used to assess the hypothesis that educational track has an independent effect on voting. Controlling for several pre- and post-track influences, the paper shows that students who have taken vocational courses in less prestigious schools indeed have lower reported voting levels at age 20 than those who have pursued an academic qualification (A levels) in prestigious schools. It is proposed that the effect of tracked education on political participation is likely to vary across Europe and that this variation may well be explained by differences across Europe in the extent to which the academic and vocational tracks are integrated, both in terms of the curriculum and in their social intake.

Disability and voting

BACKGROUND

For millions of people with disabilities in the United States, exercising the fundamental right to vote remains a challenge. Over the last few decades, the U.S. government has enacted several pieces of legislation to make voting accessible to individuals with disabilities.

OBJECTIVE

We examine trends in self-reported voting rates among people with and without disabilities to uncover evidence for the effects of these policies on political participation. We also explore what policy change is necessary to encourage people with disabilities to vote by investigating whether the participation rates vary by the types of disabilities.

METHODS

We analyze the Current Population Survey (CPS) data in the years of presidential elections for the period of 1980-2008.

RESULTS

Our analysis shows that the population aged 18-64 with work-preventing disabilities has been persistently less likely to vote compared to the corresponding population without such disabilities. In addition, individuals with cognitive and mobility impairments have the lowest rates of electoral participation. The gap in the likelihood of voting in-person between people with and without disabilities is considerably larger than the gap in the likelihood of voting by-mail, regardless of the types of impairments that they have.

CONCLUSIONS

The participation gap between people with and without disabilities did not decrease over the last three decades despite the presence of federal laws that aimed at removing barriers for voting.