Year: 1925
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Non-Voting in a Typical Ohio Community.The investigation which is described in the following paragraphs was first suggested by a plea made by Professor Merriam at a meeting of the American Political Science Association for a more careful statistical study, and a more detailed analysis, of various units of the body politic.It was further stimulated by the report of Professors Merriam and Gosnell on the study of non-voting made in the city of Chicago which report is published in book form under the title Non-Voting.This study, however, differs somewhat from that made in Chicago as to method and purpose.In the Chicago survey only non-voters were studied and the chief aim was to discover why the non-voters absented themselves from the polling-booth.In our investigation data were gathered, as far as possible, on all the persons entitled to vote in the city of Delaware, Ohio, for the purpose of discovering if possible the variations in the percentage of non-voting according to age, race, sex, occupation, education and so forth.It should be clearly understood that this is not presented as a comprehensive and conclusive study.On the contrary the writer clearly recognizes that to attach great importance to the conclusions reached would not only be unscientific but provincial.Nevertheless, it is believed that the microscopic study of political units has value.While no one is ready to say that a given community is as likely to be typical of all communities, as a given cell of a plant or an animal is typical of other cells in the organism, it is perhaps true that there is enough similarity to warrant the statement that if enough communities are studied we may generalize, on a statewide, or even a nationwide basis.If a large number of local units were studied for facts on voting and non-voting it might be safe to draw general conclusions, and the results of this survey are presented in the hope that it may suggest similar studies in other localities.The community studied is the city of Delaware, in central Ohio, with a population according to the 1920 census of 8756, and a fairly typical Ohio community.That it is a college town does not necessarily keep it from being typical.Ohio has so many colleges that one can say, without being more than half facetious, that an Ohio town
Author: Ben A. Arneson
Institution: Ohio Wesleyan University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2330007339