Disenfranchised: People with disabilities in American electoral politics

Abstract

People with disabilities have been called “the sleeping giant in our midst” (Zola 1993) because of their vast numbers and relative isolation from the American mainstream. Usually, discussions of this isolation are framed in terms of higher rates of unemployment, lower levels of educational attainment, lower incomes and lower rates of community participation (Louis Harris & Associates 1986, 1994). However, this characterization of people with disabilities as a huge, unrealized force may be especially apt in the context of electoral politics. In this paper, we review some of our recent research that has begun to shape our understanding of the role of people with disabilities in the American political system. This review of our prior work includes empirical tests of the “conventional wisdom” regarding the factors that influence electoral participation as well as a discussion that reflects recent theoretical developments in disability studies and political science. While in this review we do not provide an exhaustive summary of our prior work, we do provide an overview of this long-term research agenda. Finally, we conclude with many unanswered questions and ideas for future research.

Citation

Shields, T.G., Schriner, K., Schriner, K. and Ochs, L. (2000), "Disenfranchised: People with disabilities in American electoral politics", Altman, B.M. and Barnartt, S.N. (Ed.) Expanding the Scope of Social Science Research on Disability (Research in Social Science and Disability, Vol. 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 177-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3547(00)80010-X