Proponents claim that the convenience of early voting increases voter turnout by reducing the time and effort to vote through expanded opportunities for participation beyond "traditional" in-person voting at polling places on election day. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that reforms intended to make the voting process easier do not have the same effect throughout the electorate. Instead, early voting is likely to exacerbate the lack of ability to meaningfully participate in the electoral process for those particularly vulnerable to the costs of voting. Fundamentally, early voting requires access to postal services to receive and return an early ballot by-mail, as well as the ability to travel to an early in-person voting site. The irregular mail delivery operations and long traveling distances common throughout Indian Country suggests that systems of early voting lack viability on reservation lands. This research asks how the costs of voting for Native Americans affects their participation in systems of early voting. To investigate this relationship, I elucidate the social, economic, cultural, political, and geographic factors that render political participation more difficult for Native Americans. By comparing voter turnout in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections among reservation voters on the Navajo Nation to non-reservation voters in Apache, Navajo, and Coconino counties in Arizona, I find that reservation voters prefer to vote in-person on election day while non-reservation voters prefer to vote early. I also find that early voting turnout among reservation voters increased between 2012 and 2016, however, further analysis demonstrated that turnout was higher in reservation precincts with greater access to postal services. These findings illuminate our knowledge of the convenience of early voting and add to our specific understanding of the factors that affect Native American political participation. / Master of Arts / Early voting has become a popular alternative to the civic tradition of voting in-person at polling places on election day. During the 2016 presidential election, millions of American voters cast their ballots early, either by-mail or at early voting sites. These expanded opportunities for participation allow voters to avoid the hassle of large crowds and restrictive hours at the polls. Proponents claim that by making the voting process easier, early voting also increases voter turnout, yet anecdotal evidence suggests that the convenience of early voting is not enjoyed equally by all voters. Instead, Native American voters are at a likely disadvantage with regard to early voting due to the irregular mail delivery operations and long traveling distances common on reservation lands. Of course, access to mail and transportation are required to vote by-mail and early in-person. This research asks how the costs of voting for Native Americans affects their participation in systems of early voting. To investigate this question, I examine the costs of voting and voter turnout for reservation voters on the Navajo Nation compared to non-reservation voters in Apache, Navajo, and Coconino counties in Arizona. I find that political participation manifests differently for both groups; reservation voters prefer to vote in-person on election day and non-reservation voters prefer to vote early. Although it was significantly higher among non-reservation voters, early voting turnout increased among reservation voters between the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. However, further analysis demonstrated that turnout is affected by proximity to post offices or other postal service providers. These findings suggest that Native American political participation is made more difficult by social, economic, cultural, political, and geographic barriers and that reforms to make the voting process easier do not reduce these costs of voting.

This thesis deals with the applicability of Anthony Downs rational choice theory to the Czech environment, respectively the utility of its model to explain voter turnout and identification of rationality among Czech voters. First part provides theoretical foundation of work, explanation of basic concepts from which the work draws and alternative theories to the research problem. It also presents current state of society in terms of policy perceptions, and participation in elections. The core of the work is to present Downs' rational choice theory, different views on it and its possible extension in terms of criticism. The basic variables introduced are here, in particular how are percieved by various authors, what is their content and what affects them. In the analytical part, the variables are examined within the reserach aims in terms of frequency in the population and individual segments of the electorate. The primary parameters of the rational choice theory model are then tested in terms of interdependence, and in terms of their significance in the model and their influence on voter turnout. The conclusion summarizes the research results, and demonstrates evaluation of the applicability of the model to the Czech voters, the relevance of individual variables representing the rational choice...