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+Turnout is critical to the health of a democracy
+- Democracy = policies are representative of the people
+- So how healthy is the US?
+1996 48.4%
+2000 50.7%
+2004 55.7%
+2008 58.2%
+2012 54.9%
+2016 55.5%
+- That's low, the second lowest of all industrialized democracies
+    - And the lowest, Switzerland, doesn't actually have important
+      national elections
+- What explains participation?
+
+The Decision to Vote or Not (real Political Science)
+- Socioeconomic factors
+    - Age: older people are more likely to vote
+        - 18--21: less than 1 in 3 chance of voting
+        - >21: 54%
+    - Education: education increases voting
+        - College educated people are way more likely to vote
+    - Minority status is a poor factor for understanding US voting
+        - Sometimes better for less free democracies
+    - Income
+        - More money -> more likely to be salaried -> more flexible hrs
+    - Actually pretty poor explanatory variables    
+        - Correlate with eachother
+        - Determine individual voting, not actual group participation
+        - National turnout is a group behavior
+- Motivational factors
+    - Catch-all category, in a way
+    - Satisfaction theory: people aren't dissatisfied with the system
+        - Voter turnout hasn't increased as distrust has increased
+        - The least satisfied are actually the least likely to vote
+          (wealthy, high education, older should be MORE satisfied)
+        - Doesn't really work
+    - Modern Campaigns' influence
+        - Actually explains some voter turnout
+        - Voters don't like "negative campaigns" and too political
+          atmosphere, so they don't vote
+        - But it's not enough because it was just as loud 100 years ago
+    - "Social Rootedness"
+        - Around 60 years ago, you would grow up, go to college, work,
+          live, and die in your community.
+        - Rootedness -> care about your community
+        - Has decreased a lot, corresponding with a decrease in turnout
+        - Doesn't fully explain spikes in voter turnout
+    - Cultural factor?
+        - Well, Americans like politics; political shows are super
+          popular. #1 show on TV is Fox News.
+        - No real measurement, almost undisproveable (pseudoscientific)
+- Institutional factors 
+        - Formal or informal, control the cost vs benefit and structure
+          of voting
+        - Actually establish who gets to play
+    - Structure of political competition
+        - How districts are organized and representation is decided
+        - US = winner-take-all, single-member districts
+            - Promotes single competitive districts, low party
+              representation
+    - Proportionality
+        - How # of votes received transforms into # of seats awarded
+        - The less proportional, the lower the turnout
+            - Parliament, ex. has higher turnout than US
+            - "my guy is going to {win,lose} anyway" (esp 3rd parties)
+    - Number of Parties (party competition)
+        - One argument goes this way: people outside the main parties
+          (like a communist more extreme than Dems or a fascist more
+          extreme than Reps)
+            - But people often vote strategically
+    - Unicameralism
+        - One chamber -> more turnout
+        - "A second source of competition"
+            - Lower tournout on non-presidential, non-senate years
+        - Statistically significant, but 2-3 percentage points
+    - Registration process
+        - Has improved a LOT in recent years
+    - Mandatory voting
+        - Neutralizes most of the cost of voting
+        - #1 institutional variable
+        - Still small penalties, even in compulsory voting states (ex.
+          Australia)
+            - Like doctor's note will get you out even
+        - Italy puts you on a list
+    - Electoral Format
+        - Plurality/majoritarian vs proportional
+        - Proportional improves turnout