Understanding the Political Disconnect

Why Lower-Income People Don't Vote – and How to Engage People Who Feel Shut Out of the Political System

Department Overview

Swarthmore College’s Healthy Equitable and Responsive Democracy (HEARD) Initiative finds voter disconnection and discouragement – not apathy – keep people from polls

To find out why lower-income people vote at significantly lower rates than other Americans, a group of Swarthmore researchers conducted in-depth interviews with a diverse group of 144 Pennsylvanians who do not vote regularly. Respondents described a deep sense of disconnection from politics, saying they don’t believe elected officials are sincerely interested in helping them or their families.

Swarthmore sociologist Daniel Laurison, who led the study, says political leaders who want to bring disaffected citizens into the polling booths must make serious, sustained efforts to communicate and connect with them. 

The study’s respondents “see politics as a game, and they don’t believe that politicians are interested in helping them or their communities,” says Laurison, an associate professor at Swarthmore and director of the HEARD Initiative. “Political leaders need to put in the work and build connections that help people engage with their government – not just to win elections, but to create a strong, equitable, functioning democracy.” 

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People in Power Quote

People in power have money and don't fully understand the struggles like being in debt, raising a child, or being on welfare — that's a disconnection.

american flag with images of voter faces behind it

Key Findings:

  • Non-voters are concerned about being good citizens and good members of their communities, but they feel that people in politics ignore them and their experiences. They think their communities are neglected by people in power.
  • Every single respondent expressed care about the people around them, and all but two identified specific concerns about their communities and personal lives that are affected by electoral politics.
  • Many pointed to the persistence of poverty, violence, or unemployment as evidence that electoral politics do not make meaningful improvements in their lives.
  • Black and Latino respondents talked about this disconnect explicitly in terms of both race and social class.

Recommendations for Change:

  • People want to believe that politics can meaningfully improve their lives – so they need to see clear connections between the real problems they are facing and the solutions offered by politics and policy.
  • People want to see themselves reflected in politics, campaigns, candidates, and government – so party leaders and government officials need to recruit more people from low-income and working-class backgrounds, to serve at every level.
  • People want to feel genuinely listened to and cared about by those who have, or seek, political power – so political leaders need to spend more time in low-income and working-class communities, having meaningful two-way conversations with constituents that don’t end abruptly when the polls close.

Daniel Laurison & HEARD

The Political Disconnect: Working-Class and Low-Income People on What Politics Means to Them and How They Might Be Mobilized
Download the Full Report [pdf]