ONLY half the eligible population now votes in American presidential elections, and even fewer vote in off-year elections. There are two schools of thought about what the decline in voter turnout says about the public mood. One holds that it reflects public contentment: People are basically satisfied and see no need to run to the polls to change things. The other school holds that low turnout is a symptom of alienation from government: People are too cynical about politics and politicians to think that it makes much difference who wins. This explanation comes in several shadings. In some versions, people feel helpless to affect their government; in others, they feel no “connection” to what politicians are saying.
What is often overlooked is that the second explanation is basically the same as the first, but with an additional psychological overlay of self-deception. People who say all politicians are the same are generally people who don’t know
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