Voter Turnout In the US- What it Might Mean for Next Year's Election

This coming year marks the impending doom that is the Presidential Election, and thus asks for introspection on what we can expect from the voters in this fine country. Interestingly enough, despite the frequency with which we hear about opportunities to vote, people are not turning out to vote as often as we think. While we are on the incline as far as voter turnout rates now, the highest voter turnout occurred in the mid 1800's, a time with not nearly as much voting rights or opportunities as now. Women, slaves, and freed slaves did not have voting rights at this time, so voting was solely on free (white) males who owned property. This relates to our discussions in the Sokoloff and Engerman article about voting rights and the development of a country. If we are to suggest that voting rights leading to higher voter turnout and a country's development, then what can we infer about the lower voting turnout today? Especially in light of increased voting rights and opportunities? Instead, I think it's important to remember that there are other factors involved in interpreting voting rights, such as political disaffection, political partisanship, and overall political awareness. This could prove an alternative hypothesis to Sokoloff and Engerman's hypothesis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections