Despite the high visibility of this year's presidential campaign, fewer than half of alleligible Americans are expected to vote on Nov. 7. Indeed, voter turnout has fallen fromits peak of 63 percent in 1960 to just below half during the last presidential election, in 1996. As a result, the world's leading democracy ranks 140th in voter turnout among democratically elected governments. The largest bloc of non-voters are 18- to 24-year-olds -- members of the so-called Generation Y. Analysts say cynicism about politics, such as concern about the role of money, contributes to voter fatigue, especially among younger Americans. Some experts also blame low turnouts on the decline in civic education in schools and what they see as citizens' “lost sense of community.”

Mary H. Cooper specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. Before joining CQ Researcher as a staff writer in 1983, she was a reporter and Washington correspondent for the Rome daily newspaper l'Unita. She is the author of The Business of Drugs (CQ Press, 1990). She also is a contract translator-interpreter for the U.S. State Department. Cooper graduated from Hollins College in English.