Since far more Americans vote in presidential elections than in local ones, political participation is cyclical, rising every four years with a presidential election. (We separately chart the off-presidential years so the trend lines are clearer.) Despite the cycle, while presidential voting slid somewhat from 1975 until 1996, there appears to be a clear upward trend since 1999 in voting and mobilization.24 In contrast, voting in off-presidential years basically has declined slightly over the last 25 years.

DETAILS
▪ Two indicators: “Vote in presidential years” and in “off-years.” In even years, CPS asks people to recall whether they voted in the most recent election. We include all adult residents in the calculation, including non-citizens and felons.

▪ “Attend political meeting”: NES asks: “Did you go to any political meetings, rallies, speeches, fund raising dinners, or things like that in support of a particular candidate?” (The question has changed slightly several times.)

▪ “Make political donation”: NES has asked several different questions about donations in different years. As an example, in 1986, the question was: “As you know, during an election year people are often asked to make a contribution to support campaigns. During the past year, did you give any money to an individual candidate, or to a political party organization?”

▪ “Been contacted about campaign”: NES asks: “During the campaign this year, did anyone talk to you about registering to vote or getting out to vote?”