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Matthew Migasi
Professor Jason Melton
English 5
4 May 2016
Voting Patterns Research Proposal
The Democrats and Republicans are the two main political parties in the United States
Presidential election. These parties are known to appeal to different working classes, but does
this actually work? The job of Americans does not actually provide a clear answer as to who
belongs to what party. There are many studies on voting patterns with most looking at various
groups, such as ethnicity or income groups. This microscopic look into voting patterns helps to
determine why people vote the way they do.
The United States of America is a melting pot of ethnicities. These groups of ethnicities
create a very interesting study about if they tend to stick together and vote similarly. In Paul
Krugmans article about his studies of race, income and voting patterns he states that based on
the average African-Americans lower income Should lean Democratic... but they are much
more Democratic than this alone would predict (Krugman). On the other end of the spectrum
the Asian-Americans are relatively high income, but also strongly Democratic (Krugman).
This study showcases the role that race plays in voting patterns. The Democratic party focuses on
the redistribution of wealth and this is why there is a high expectancy for the majority of lower
income citizens to vote Democratic. The outlier ethnicity being the Asian-Americans shows that
the Democratic party focuses on drawing votes from ethnicities other than white. David Wallace
conducted another study further detailing how the the vote gap between white Americans and
African-Americans truly is. In his study Wallace gathered that in the 2001 presidential election

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For African Americans 13.8% voted for Bush while 85.1% voted for Kerry and the Caucasians
voted 80.8% for Bush, 18.3% voted for Kerry (Wallace,141). This gap shows why the
Republican party can sometimes be referred to as the white christian party. The ideals of each
party go beyond income and the Democratic party is able to use this to gain non-caucasian votes.
The ethnicity of a voter can greatly determine what party he/she will be voting for. This
does not however indicate if they will actually vote. The educational level of a citizen is another
determinant on voting patterns. Lower income leads to a generally lower educational level and
this has a direct effect on voting numbers. In a study performed by C N Trueman, he gathered
that In 1980, 80% of college educated adults voted, 59% of those with four years high school
education voted, 43% of those with a grade school education voted (Trueman). This study
shows how highly educated people tend to vote more than those with a lesser education level.
This creates the main reason why there is a close run between the two parties candidates almost
every presidential election. This study also shows how there is a line between who a group will
vote for and if they will actually be voting.
These studies give an small insight into what voting patterns really look like. Voting
patterns encompass many different parts of the vote such as ethnicity and income. Further
research can be done however by creating and gathering data for other groups of voters.
Examples of these other groups could be gender, location, and religion based voting. These
microscopic views into voting groups give the presidential parties the ability to adjust their
campaign to appeal to the people who they do not yet have support from. A presidential party can
change only so much, however they can follow the latest voting trends and gain the competitive
edge by appealing to them. Historical trends may also play a role in how people vote as well.

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Research could be done in order to show how the parties interacted with the ethnic groups in
history to see if this has impacted how each group votes.
Job based voting is not a thing and may never be, but this does not mean that voting is
based on the individual citizen. Income and ethnicity groups play a large role in voting patterns
which can help the presidential parties to adjust to gain the most votes. These are not the only
groups that should be looked at however, religion, location, and gender are a few other groups
that play roles in the diversified votes. Presidential elections in history is another form of study
that may broaden the already broad range of subjects to look at to see trends amongst voters.
This research will not only help the current candidates but the future ones as well. This type of
study creates a trendline, and future candidates will be able to follow the line and adjust their
campaign before they even start campaigning.

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Works Cited
Krugman, Paul. Income, Race, and Voting. NYTimes.com. New York Times, 10 July
2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2016.
Trueman, C. N. "Voting Patterns in America." historylearningsite.co.uk .The History
Learning Site. 26 May 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Wallace, David, et al. "African Americans Political Attitudes, Party Affiliation, And Voting
Behavior." Journal Of African American Studies 13.2 (2009): 139-146. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.