Voting Patterns Of American Women Research Proposal

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¶ … United States has had a varied history when it comes to voting. Blacks endured several trials and tribulations to gain the right to vote. Women also went through hurdles only gaining the right to vote in the early twentieth century. All of this lends to what the present is today, a nation that encompasses all of the past struggles into the next Presidential election. And with the election less than a year away, some questions may be asked. For example what affects the voting patterns of American women? Is social class a determiner for how and/or when a woman votes? How does social conflict theory contribute to explaining such behaviors? While religion appears to play a role in voting behavior among Americans and other nationalities, class may also be a determiner for how Americans vote. In regards to American women, wealthy women may see things differently versus their poor counterparts. Republicans for example, tend to comprise of wealthy voters with some favoring the Republican Party purely for the stance they have on the economy. Those that earn less favor Democratic and vote Democratic. Even when examining wealthy Democrats, their support for the Democratic Party is much weaker than a low-income Democrat's (Lang, 2016).

Women in America have a tendency overall, to support political parties that offer more in the way of government programs that support social services, framework for social redistribution like the Democratic Party does. Women in support of social redistribution often earn less marking a difference and link between social class and American women voting patterns. "Religious identity matters in politics," conclude the researchers, "but its effect is contingent on the individual's social location." (Lang, 2016).
Examining voting behaviors of American women through the lens of social conflict theory provides a theoretical proposition that conflict is possible and consensus is possible. How that plays into identifying voting patterns must first begin with what social conflict theory is. Social conflict theory is a Marxist-based social theory that argues groups and individuals in society have varying quantities of non-material and material resources, for example, the poor versus the wealthy. Additionally, the groups with more power utilize that power to further exploit the less powerful groups (Eagly, Baron, Hamilton & Kelman, 2004, p. 34). Petranka wrote an article titled "A Conflict Theory of Voting" that examines the behavioral psychology of voting and found that "voters tend to be poorly informed, highly responsive to candidate personality, and follow a 'fast and frugal' heuristic" (Petranka, 2010, p. 1). Essentially the…

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References

Carnes, N., & Lupu, N. (2014). Rethinking the Comparative Perspective on Class and Representation: Evidence from Latin America. American Journal Of Political Science, 59(1), 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12112

Crouse, J. (2008). Janice Shaw Crouse - Women's Voting Patterns in Election 2008. townhall.com. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://townhall.com/columnists/janiceshawcrouse/2008/11/14/womens_voting_patterns_in_election_2008/page/full

Eagly, A., Baron, R., Hamilton, V., & Kelman, H. (2004). The social psychology of group identity and social conflict. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Lang, S. (2016). Study: Race, class and gender shape religion's effect on American voters -- Cornell Chronicle. News.cornell.edu. Retrieved 21 February 2016, from http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2009/11/study-examines-link-between-religion-and-votes
Petranka, J. (2010). A Conflict Theory of Voting. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1639025


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