Political Participation Research Articles

Governance capacity, social justice, social security, and institutionalized political participation in China: A moderated mediation model

Governance capacity, social justice, social security, and institutionalized political participation in China: A moderated mediation model

Slave trades, kinship structures and women's political participation in Africa

AbstractWe study whether present‐day women's political participation in sub‐Saharan Africa is associated to the temporary gender ratio imbalances caused by the transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades, taking into account pre‐existing gender norms influenced by kinship structures. To study the interrelatedness between historical exposure to the slave trades, patrilineality and their association to contemporary women's political participation, we use individual‐level data for 35,595 women from 28 sub‐Saharan African countries from three rounds of Afrobarometer surveys, georeferenced to historical ethnic region kinship and slave trade data. Our findings suggest that a woman's ethnic region historical exposure to the transatlantic slave trade is associated with an increase in her likelihood to vote today, however, only in non‐patrilineal ethnic regions. This effect is mitigated in patrilineal ethnic regions, where women have less decision‐making power. This paper contributes to the literature on the contemporary sub‐national effects of the slave trades and the historical causes of gender gaps in political participation.

Accounting for the association between socioeconomic status and youth political participation: A twin family study

AbstractPolitical participation (PP) has been found to be associated with socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, most strongly with educational attainment. At the same time, previous research has been inconclusive regarding potentially biasing effects of personality and cognitive characteristics on this association. In the present study, we investigated the association between different forms of youth PP and attained SES, taking youth's and parents' individual characteristics into account. We used data from 983 German twin families with same‐sex twin pairs of emerging adults (aged 21–25) that provided information on electoral, nonelectoral individual and collective political participation as well as on youth's and their parents relevant personality and cognitive characteristics. After adjusting for youth's and parents' individual characteristics, regression analyses showed educational attainment and household income to be solely significantly associated with emerging adults' electoral political participation. Genetically informative analyses revealed confoundedness due to shared environmental factors for electoral PP and due to genetic factors for individual and collective PP. Depending on the form of PP, the covariance between attained SES indicators and youth's PP mostly or fully overlapped with variance in political interest, general cognitive ability, and/or openness to experience. Findings are discussed against the backdrop of genotype‐environment interplay.

The effects of Facebook and Instagram on the 2020 election: A deactivation experiment

We study the effect of Facebook and Instagram access on political beliefs, attitudes, and behavior by randomizing a subset of 19,857 Facebook users and 15,585 Instagram users to deactivate their accounts for 6 wk before the 2020 U.S. election. We report four key findings. First, both Facebook and Instagram deactivation reduced an index of political participation (driven mainly by reduced participation online). Second, Facebook deactivation had no significant effect on an index of knowledge, but secondary analyses suggest that it reduced knowledge of general news while possibly also decreasing belief in misinformation circulating online. Third, Facebook deactivation may have reduced self-reported net votes for Trump, though this effect does not meet our preregistered significance threshold. Finally, the effects of both Facebook and Instagram deactivation on affective and issue polarization, perceived legitimacy of the election, candidate favorability, and voter turnout were all precisely estimated and close to zero.

Democracy and Autocracy in Africa

Contrary to the widespread claims of democratic regression in sub-Saharan Africa, our research on democratic processes reveals a different reality. We have found that the region's democratic journey over the past two decades has largely remained stagnant, with no significant advancements or setbacks in terms of political and civil liberties since the initial transitions in the early 1990s. However, this apparent lack of progress in African democratization masks the active efforts of incumbent leaders to undermine key actors, such as civil society, and structural conditions, such as urbanization, that could potentially lead to greater liberalization. To explain the uneven progress in democratization, despite increased political participation across the region, we argue that Africa's incumbent leaders have employed two often overlooked processes: legal institutions and international relationships. Firstly, these leaders have utilized the law and courts to restrict the ability of domestic actors to mobilize against them. By strategically using the law to consolidate their power and strengthen executive authority, they have undermined other institutional checks and balances. Secondly, incumbent leaders have effectively manipulated their international relationships to counteract the democratizing influence of external actors, including foreign donors and transnational civil society. This manipulation includes employing claims of sovereignty to resist external intervention in domestic politics.

Community Education and General Elections: Strategies to Enhance Political Awareness Based on Technology & Community Participation Levels in Gorontalo Province

Community participation serves as a measure of success in conducting general elections, thus political participation must be optimized through building and developing political awareness among the populace through various efforts, including education and political advocacy based on information technology. This study aims to design a strategy to enhance technology-based political awareness and community participation levels in Gorontalo Province. The method employed in this study is qualitative, with data analysis utilizing the Miles and Huberman model. The study findings reveal that community political participation in local elections in Gorontalo Province has reached a satisfactory level, although there is still room for improvement. Community education on politics with a technology-based approach is also crucial, especially in addressing digital divides. By involving technology, political education can become more accessible to the populace. It is hoped that political participation will increase, voters will be better educated, and local democracy will become stronger. Communities engaged in politics have greater potential to influence policies, monitor the government, and uphold accountability. Technology-based political education is a progressive step towards achieving the goal of community awareness and participation in general elections. Keywords: Community Education, Elections, Awareness, Participation.

Critical Review: The Impact of Political Prisons on Political Participation (The Case of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood)

Many revolutionary figures throughout history proved their corrupted intention whenever they reached authority (e.g., the Iranian revolution, Burma’s Aung Suu Kyi). Some political leaders in Egypt claim they own it all depending on whom they represented in the latest major social uprising, and they define what is moral or who shall be the target for future political manoeuvres of the ruling military regime. With no one taking the lead for democratising the system, and the ex-minister of defence, incumbent President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi allegedly caught up in an internal fight with a corrupt government, the country’s better future seems to be a long and arduous struggle away. This paper addresses the overlapping and misleading media and political utterances of Egyptian opposition, who either takes a popular stand or loses followers through democratisation itself.

Electoral Systems in Sudan: In Quest for an Appropriate Type

This article reviews the types of electoral systems applied in Sudan since independence – in both democratic and military rules. It goes beyond that to touch on the general features of electoral behavior as well. It employs historical and descriptive approaches to examine some facts pertaining to the reality of elections and hindrances to democracy in the Sudan: <i>First</i>, the democratic process has been obstructed several times by military coups and regimes. <i>Second,</i> children who grew up under al-Bashir's Militant Islamic Regime (MIR) were deprived form exercising democracy or know anything about voting. <i>Third,</i> the lack of continual political participation hindered the process of accumulating political awareness that could enrich the formation of political culture. <i>Fourth,</i> the tribal influence in the socio-political life in many parts of the country, had negatively affected the political behavior of the ordinary people as well as the politicians. This political reality shatters any hope for proper democracy to work in the country. This essay argues that for such pluralism and ethno-cultural multiplicity entails the adoption of consensual democracy. However, it believes that this consociationalism should be supported by the Proportional Representation type of elections –along with federalism and presidential system.

A study of political party affiliation as a means to enhance gender equality and women’s political participation in Kazakhstan

PurposeThe article aims to identify the main mechanisms for promoting more Kazakhstani women participation in the legislative authorities based on a study of the competition of political parties in 2023.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing the structural-biographical method, the article investigates the ways of increasing women’s participation in the political life of Kazakhstan. This empirical study comprises a total of 18 biographies of women deputies / candidates on party lists who were elected to the legislative body. Content analysis was also conducted to investigate the pre-election programs of the political parties.FindingsThis study has identified that political party is the main resource for promoting gender equality and involving women in the decision-making process. All 18 women deputies of the Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament, are members of political parties. The findings show that women candidates without party affiliation were unable to get into representative body. The results of the election campaign of 2023 provided evidence for determining the gender order in the Kazakhstani political space. The party has become an effective channel for promoting women participations in the parliament of the country. By comparison, in single-mandate constituencies no woman was able to pass to the elected body.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature of gender equality and women’s political participation in Kazakhstan and may be relevant for other countries. It also has practical significance and policy implications for the government and political parties.

Perceived local government performance and people’s life satisfaction: the role of trust in local government and political participation

ABSTRACT Life satisfaction (LS) has received widespread attention, but few studies explored the determinants of people’s LS in China from the perspective of perceived performance of local government (PPLG). Therefore, taking trust in local government and political participation into consideration, this study employed the data in 2021CSS to analyse the relationship between PPLG and LS. The results showed that PPLG had a direct positive relationship with people’s LS. Citizens’ trust in local government played a mediating role in this relationship. That is, PPLG had a significant positive association with citizens’ trust in local government, which in turn had a significant positive relationship with people’s LS. Unexpectedly, institutional and non- institutional political participation played different roles, namely, institutional political participation rather than non-institutional political participation played a mediating role in this model. The conclusions provided a meaningful supplement for related studies, but some potential limitations require further discussion.

Addressing Barriers to Women's Representation in Party Candidate Selections

AbstractAn analysis of Conservative and Labour Party candidate selections reveals persistent gender disparities, with the Conservative Party nominating a significantly higher proportion of men. While various factors, such as local connections and harassment, abuse and intimidation (HAI) are cited as explanations, they fail to address systemic issues within the Conservative Party's recruitment processes and organisational culture. This article argues that the focus should shift from individual women to party structures and practices that perpetuate gender inequality. Drawing on previous research and empirical evidence, it calls for institutional reforms including the implementation of quotas and greater transparency in candidate selection. Finally, it calls for a gender‐sensitive audit of party culture to address underlying barriers to women's participation in politics.

Improving Women’s Representation in Politics through Gender Quotas

Gender quotas for women in local government bodies can improve women’s representation in politics, increase provision of public services, and improve perceptions of women as leaders. Gender quotas are one policy tool designed to increase women’s representation in politics. Women hold fewer than 25 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide, and just 12 percent of the world’s heads of state and government are women. In many countries this imbalance extends to local governments. Countries are taking action In 2013, 118 countries were implementing a form of gender quotas for an elected office. Women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision making process and access to power ,are fund a mental for the achievement to fequality , development and peace. One way to implement gender quotas is by reserving a certain number of leadership positions for women. A review of eleven randomized evaluations in India, Lesotho, and across 28 states in India found that reservation quotas influenced women’s political participation and policy outcomes and increased the provision of public goods aligned with female voters’ preferences. Further, quotas improved men’s perceptions of women as leaders, increased the aspirations of girls, and helped women get elected even after quotas were removed. Most of the rigorous research drawn on in this insight comes from India comparative conclusions should be drawn cautiously. This evidence largely suggests that governments seeking to improve women’s representation in politics should consider reservation quotas for local leadership positions. overview of the three main types of quota policies reserved seats, party quotas, and legislative quotas. These are found in all major world regions in countries with a broad range of institutional, social, economic, and cultural characteristics. At the same time, the mere advent of gender quotas has not resulted in uniform increases in the percentage of women in parliament worldwide some countries have witnessed dramatic increases, while others have seen more modest changes or even setbacks in the number of women elected to national assemblies. Despite the rapid international diffusion of these measures, most research has focused on single countries or, at most, the presence of quotas within one world region. Consequently, explanations for the adoption and impact of gender quotas derived from one study often contradict .

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Political Participation: A Review of Empirical Studies

Politicians around the world are increasingly using social media platforms as a means to engage with the public and conduct election campaigns. However, the true impact of social media campaigns on political outcomes remains untested and empirical evidence is scant. This research aims to review the existing literature on this issue to explore the impact of social media on political participation. The widespread use of social media by the public has attracted the attention of politicians as a platform for election campaigns. This type of research is a literature review by analyzing previous research qualitatively. The results show that social media has a significant impact on political participation. Social media platforms provide powerful new tools for individuals to engage in the political process and make their voices heard. However, it is important to be aware of the potential challenges of using social media for political participation and to use it responsibly and ethically. Social media has a significant role in expanding access to political information, mobilizing public participation, and reaching marginalized voters. Social media provides an inclusive platform for individuals to participate in political discussions, organize political movements, and strengthen democracy by ensuring the voices of all citizens are heard. However, challenges such as the digital divide and imbalances in social media use also need to be addressed so that the full potential of social media in democracy can be realized. Therefore, joint efforts from governments, NGOs, social media platform providers and the general public are needed to ensure that social media is used responsibly and inclusively in supporting democratic political processes.

An Interpretive Case Study of Chinese New Zealanders’ Participation in Non-elected Representation

This paper adopts Michael Saward’s representative claims theory to analyze Chinese New Zealanders’ participation in non-elected representation. It explores how they made representative claims and examines the democratic legitimacy of their claims. Based on an interpretive analysis of in-depth interviews with 38 Chinese New Zealanders, I found age-based and educational-level-based patterns of how they participate in non-elected representation. Individuals and Chinese associations made representative claims based on various grounds. However, the democratic legitimacy of individual-made claims and association-made claims varied. When interviewees made representative claims, they cherished the claims’ instrumental goals and intrinsic values. These findings expand our knowledge of Chinese New Zealanders’ political participation and representation. This paper also analyzes the difference between making representative claims and political advocacy. It deepens our understanding of non-elected representation.

Young People’s Interaction with Political Information in Japan

This paper investigated how Japanese young people’s attitudes toward politics and the social environments they are in affect their interaction with political information in their daily life. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty people to gather data about their experiences with political information and their attitudes toward politics. The results show that they have mixed feelings about political information, which arise from personal factors but are interrelated with broader social factors. Their attitude, which comprises their sense of remoteness to politics, low political efficacy, and difficulty understanding politics, reduces their interest in knowing political information. Social factors that limit opportunities for political participation and conversation diminish the utility of information and the motivation for seeking information. The habit of monitoring political information, often facilitated by experience watching television news with family, emerges as a factor that can maintain young people’s exposure to political information, regardless of their level of political interest.

The socializing nature of protest events. Consequences of the 15-M protests on participants’ political engagement over time

ABSTRACT In spite of the widespread belief that firsthand experience with protest is able to change participants’ hearts and minds, the empirical evidence tracking actual changes after participation in protest events is scant and mixed. We examine whether participation in significant protest events increases political engagement in terms of both attitudes (interest, internal efficacy) and behaviors (later participation in demonstrations, overall political participation), and whether these effects persist over time. We use a unique panel survey that covers nine years (2010–2019) and tracks individuals before and after the major protests that took place in Spain in 2011, known as the Indignados or 15-M protests. Our results indicate that participating in the 15-M protests had a positive effect on all the studied political engagement indicators immediately after the protests and, in particular, about two years after they occurred. However, eight years after the protest events, most of these effects had faded.

The Impact of Educational Attainment on Women's Empowerment: A Multidisciplinary Analysis

This study investigated the multiple relationships between the educational attainment and women's empowerment. It also examined how education helps women to gett knowledge, critical thinking, and the ability to struggle any complex situations. To empowers them in various aspects of life, including economic independence, social and political participation, and overall well-being. Secondary research methods was employed in this study which engage a multidisciplinary approach, analyzing the link through the eye of Human Capital and Feminist Theory examining how education challenges traditional gender roles and empowers women to advocate for themselves and their communities. The study has limited to current research and proposes a future direction which emphasized the need to consider cultural contexts, quality education and safety measures to maximize education's empowering potential for women across diverse situation.

Navigating multilingual identities: The role of languages in shaping social belonging and political participation

This paper explores the complex interplay between multilingual identities, social belonging, and political participation. It delves into how individuals navigate their multilingual identities within different social and political contexts and how they influence their sense of belonging and engagement in civic life. The research aims to shed light on how languages serve as bridges and barriers in social integration and political activism. Multilingualism is a complex phenomenon that plays a crucial role in shaping individuals' identities, social interactions, and political engagement. This Review explores the role of languages in shaping social belonging and political participation, highlighting how multilingual individuals navigate their identities in diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. Multilingual individuals often develop multifaceted identities shaped by their proficiency in multiple languages and experiences in multilingual environments. These identities are dynamic and fluid, influenced by language use, cultural background, and social context. Multilingualism allows individuals to express different aspects of their identity, negotiate cultural differences, and navigate complex social landscapes. Languages play a crucial role in shaping social belonging by providing individuals with a sense of connection to their communities and cultures. Multilingual individuals often use different languages to communicate with different social groups, reinforcing their sense of belonging and cultural identity. Additionally, languages can serve as markers of cultural heritage, allowing individuals to maintain and celebrate their linguistic and cultural diversity. Furthermore, languages also play a significant role in shaping political participation. Multilingual individuals often use their language skills to engage in political discourse, advocate for their rights, and participate in democratic processes. Language can serve as a tool for empowerment, enabling individuals to voice their opinions, mobilize communities, and influence political outcomes. In conclusion, multilingualism is a dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon that shapes individuals' social belonging and political participation. By exploring the role of languages in shaping identities and facilitating social and political engagement, this Review provides insights into the complex interplay between language, identity, and society. Understanding the role of languages in shaping social belonging and political participation can inform policies and practices that promote linguistic diversity, cultural inclusivity, and democratic participation in diverse societies. Keywords: Multilingual, Social, Identity, Political.

The nonlinear road to happiness: Making sense of ESGD impacts on well-being

This study examines the heterogeneous impact of environmental, social, governance, and digital (ESGD) factors on subjective well-being across 86 countries from 2005 to 2019, using Method of Moments Quantile Regression. The results reveal complex, nonlinear relationships between ESGD factors and well-being. CO2 emissions display an inverted U-curve, suggesting eventual negative impacts after initial gains. Our findings suggest that renewable energy only benefits higher quantiles, revealing affordability issues. Social and governance factors like labor participation and women's political participation relate nonlinearly to well-being across income levels, reflecting employment quality and social norms differences. Similarly, digital factors improve well-being in high-income countries but not lower-middle-income nations, due to economic complexity gaps and the digital divide. A “digital economy paradox” emerges where more digital skills combined with limited digital economies decrease well-being in lower-middle income countries signifying the need for tailored digital policies. This study enhances understanding of links between ESGD factors and well-being patterns.

Democracy, impartiality and the online political activity of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public sector employees: similarities and differences with other Westminster countries

ABSTRACT While some hail social media as improving political participation, some governments have received social media with a touch of trepidation; concerned that public servants’ online political activity might threaten the public service’s reputed impartiality. Recent research from some Westminster countries where government messaging about social media have been especially cautious have found a negative relationship between public sector employment and online political activity. But what about public sector employees in Aotearoa New Zealand, where, comparative research suggests, the tone and substance of social media guidelines are less risk-averse than other Westminster countries? Using data from the 2014, 2017 and 2020 New Zealand Election Study, this article examines the relationship between public sector employment and online activity with several multivariate regression models. The results lead to two conclusions. First, consistent with research from other countries, a negative relationship has emerged over time between public sector employment and online political activity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Second, although public sector employees are less politically active online relative to other citizens, the substantive size of this gap is not as great as that found in other Westminster countries. The implications of these findings for the state of democracy and impartiality in Aotearoa New Zealand are discussed.