The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy. To millions around the world who have fought for that right, it is considered a privilege. Yet the magnitude of nonvoting in America is staggering. More than 91 million Americans did not vote in 1988, putting voter turnout at barely half of the voting-age population. This situation has stirred much comment & debate across the political spectrum, raising several questions; Why is voter turnout generally so low? Why has it declined steadily over the past three decades? Does low & declining turnout significantly bias the nature of contemporary U.S. politics? And what, if anything, can be done to increase voter participation? In this book, Ruy Teixeira addresses each of these questions in detail in an effort to provide policymakers & the general public with a clearer view of the problem & possible solutions. The author's interpretations & recommendations are both provocative & firmly based on available data.

Teixeira includes an assessment of current registration reform legislation & shows why a combination of registration reform & political reform is necessary to fully reverse the nonvoting trend & move to substantially higher turnout levels. He points out that while it is unlikely U.S. voter turnout will ever approach levels in Sweden, Australia, & Belgium--which are about 90 percent--with a thorough reform program, levels of about 70 percent, such as those in Japan & Canada, may be attainable. Ruy A. Teixeira is a visiting fellow in the Governmental Studies Program at Brookings & the author of Why Americans Don't Vote: Turnout Decline in the United States, 1960-1984 (1987).