Opportunities, Resources, and Dispositions: Young Citizens' Participation and the Web Environment

Abstract

Among the key findings of the Civic Web project is the modest potential of the Web to stimulate democratic participation among young people if such involvement does not already exist. While underscoring that the Internet can make an important difference, the report emphasizes the importance of taking into account other factors that shape participation—and how they can interact with the Net. For example, online activities need to be linked to offline contexts and to concerns that young people face in their daily lives. Moreover, access to those in power is a precondition for sustained involvement. With these and related findings as a point of departure, this article conceptualizes the social, cultural, and psychological factors around participation in order to move toward a more unified perspective and thus to specify in a clearer manner how these factors interact with the Net. Drawing on a number of current research trajectories, including my own work on civic cultures and the work fellow Swedish research...