Former Clinton Aid Speaks at Kennedy School Forum

In a Friday afternoon forum at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), professors and pundits said the recent American political obsession with wooing soccer-moms and swing voters has led to declining political participation among lower-class voters.

The forum, entitled, "Restoring Real Democracy: Elections, Voter Turnout, and the Decline in Civic Engagement Organizations," focused on why citizens, especially lower-class voters, were staying away from the polls. Over 100 people attended the forum, which took place at the Wiener Auditorium.

Forum Chair Richard B. Freeman, Ascherman chair in economics and the faculty co-chair of the Harvard Trade Union Program, said U.S. voter turnout is lower than any other democracy. Freeman said voter turnout decreased among eligible voters of all levels of education in the years between 1964 to 1990.

The largest drop during that period, about 25 percent, occurred among people whose education ended between the ninth and 11th grades. The smallest drop was in the group of voters who earned at least a bachelor's degree.

Robert B. Reich, who served as secretary of labor in the first Clinton administration and is now professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis University, blamed low voter activity on politicians' failure to address the issues of America's less-educated, lower-class voters.

"What I have heard again and again from low-income people has a common refrain: 'I'm not involved because the process is rigged,'" he said.

"People say, 'I won't be politically involved because [politicians] won't

listen to me.'"

Reich said there is truth in these explanations for non-participation. Politicians focus on issues which concern the middle-class swing voters, "thereby fulfilling the prophecy--self-fulfilling prophecy-- of the low-income, working class people who don't vote."

Director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate Curtis B. Gans said the lack of focus on lower class poverty is self-evident during election campaigns.

"As voting goes down...the common interest suffers," he said. "Do you ever hear anything about inequality? Do you ever hear anything about inner cities?"

Gans said the decline in voter turnout can be directly attributed to a discontented populace.

"There is no poll--not one--that indicates satisfaction among non-voters," he said.

Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee professor of government and the press at the KSG and the co-director of the Vanishing Voter Project, also placed some of the blame on politicians and their perceived lack of character.

Patterson said a poll conducted last week by the Vanishing Voter Project showed 43 percent of Americans believe "politicians are liars or crooks" and 70 percent of Americans think "politics in America is pretty disgusting."

A shorter presidential campaign and more media coverage of political news and events would increase voter interest and participation, Patterson

said.

Freeman predicted new technology, like a recently-launched website that allows users to take part in a mock presidential election, will affect turnout in the elections of the future.

However, there is no "quick fix" for increasing voter interest, Gans said.

"There isn't an issue that's going to bump it up."

The forum was co-sponsored by the Institute of Politics and by the Harvard Trade Union Program.