Kentucky
Citizenship & Democracy
The United States is a representative democracy. We choose our leaders and hold them accountable through elections. Those leaders are responsible for upholding the Constitution, which includes respecting civil liberties, separation of powers between branches of government, and the rule of law. Our elected officials are also obligated to maintain free and fair elections and the peaceful transition of power, and to lead with civility, truth, and transparency. But the responsibility of democratic government cannot be limited to elected leaders alone. Our citizens also have important responsibilities, including being informed, holding elected officials accountable through voting, tolerating those who are different and have divergent views from our own, and engaging more broadly in civic affairs. The rights of citizens go hand in hand with these responsibilities.
Summary of Results.
This is one of the few topics that has only a single measure: voter participation. Kentucky's progress in this area has been mixed.
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Voter ParticipationSpecific Measure
Percentage of the voting-age citizen population who voted in presidential and congressional elections
(Source: Authors' analysis of Census Bureau data).State RankState vs. US trend25Why did we include this measure?
Democracy is rooted in elections and its success depends on citizens holding their leaders accountable by voting. Voting is also a signal of how engaged citizens are in public affairs. Since there are two election cycles (congressional and presidential), we report the average rank across those cycles.
How does Kentucky compare to the rest of the country?
Kentucky's trend in congressional elections has been improving more than the US. Compared to other states, Kentucky has also increased in state ranking by two or more places. Therefore, we categorize Kentucky's comparison to the US in congressional elections as positive. Kentucky's trend in presidential elections has been improving while the US has been worsening. Compared to other states, Kentucky has also increased in state ranking by two or more places. Therefore, we categorize Kentucky's comparison to the US in presidential elections as positive. Taking both congressional and presidential elections into account, we categorize Kentucky's overall comparison to the US for voter participation as positive. In the most recent year, Kentucky ranked 26 (out of 51) for voting in congressional elections. In the same year, Oregon ranked first, and West Virginia ranked last. For presidential elections, in the most recent year,
Additional Information.
The difference between presidential and congressional elections is partially due to the US having separate elections for the executive and legislative branches. Elections that involve the selection of a single leader will naturally have higher turnouts when those elections occur. Many areas also have few voting places that are far away and involve long wait times, though mail-in voting has become much more widespread in recent years. Voter ID requirements are also increasing.Kentucky State Trend Mixed
How to Read This Report:
We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.
State Rank
(Where are we now?)
State Trend
(Where are we going?)
State vs. US Trend
(How do we compare?)
Top third of states
(i.e., ranks 1-17)
Improving
Trendline is improving by >5% and most points are improving relative to the first data point.
Improving
Trendline is improving relative to the national trend and rank is improving by 2+ rank spots.
Middle third of states
(i.e., ranks 18-34)
Neutral/Stable
Doesn't fall into improving, worsening, mixed, unclear, or NA categories.
Neutral/Stable
Trendline is improving/worsening the same amount as the national trend or rank is changing by <2 spots.
Bottom third of states
(i.e., ranks 35-51)
Worsening
Trendline is worsening by >5% and most points are worsening relative to the first data point.
Worsening
Trendline is worsening relative to national trend and rank is declining by 2+ rank spots
Mixed
Large shares of points are improving and worsening by >5% in different parts of the trend.
Mixed
This label only applies when a measure has more than 1 trendline. One trendline is improving and another is worsening.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a trend.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a comparison.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.
