Predictors Of Political Participation Research Articles

Putting the Political in Political Interest: The Conditional Effect of Politics on Citizens’ Interest in Politics

Given that political interest is one of the best predictors of political participation, it remains curious that the causes of interest are undertheorized and understudied. Notably absent from much of the research on political interest is an exploration of how variations in the nature of politics itself might have an impact on individual-level political interest. We develop a theory and a set of testable predictions about how partisanship interacts with the presence of a presidential (vs. midterm) election, the party of the sitting president, and elite polarization, to affect political interest. We report multilevel models that use ANES measures of political interest and partisanship and the DW-NOMINATE Senate polarization measure (from 1960 to 2008) and discuss the implications of our findings for the long-term prospects of an interested electorate.

The influence of media use on different modes of political participation in China: political trust as the mediating factor

ABSTRACT Studies demonstrate that political trust and media use are important predictors of political participation. In this study, we leverage Asian Barometer Survey data on China to clarify how media use to obtain political information predicts how citizens participate in politics and whether political trust mediates these relationships. This study finds that traditional and new media use have distinct relationships with electoral and non-electoral participation. In addition, trust in local government is negatively related to non-electoral. These findings may demonstrate how media use predicts different modes of participation and the influence of political trust.

Factors Affecting Korean Youth s Political Efficacy and Political Participation

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify factors that affect the political efficacy and participation of young Koreans. The sense of political efficacy is the confidence in an individual s political role and behavior, and is divided into internal and external efficacy as a predictor of political participation. Method: This study used the survey data of 3,530 people who participated in the 2019 Korean Youth Economic and Social Survey and the researcher analyzed the 25 variables related to political efficacy and political participation. Results: According to the results of the analysis, gender, educational background, income level, age, and occupation affected political efficacy, and the political efficacy significantly affected the political participation. Conclusion: The result suggests that we need to strengthen the political education and support for women and undereducated youth in order to increase their political efficacy.

Together We Rise: The Role of Communication and Community Connectedness in Transgender Citizens’ Civic Engagement in the United States

This study examines the influences of online communication, in-person socialization, and degree of community connectedness on transgender citizens’ political participation in the United States. Drawing on the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, we find that while demographics, socioeconomic status, and political self-efficacy contributed to individuals’ civic engagement and political campaign contribution, community connectedness was the single largest predictor of civic engagement and alone accounted for almost as much variance in the measurement of civic engagement as all demographics and socioeconomic status combined. At the same time, we found an unhypothesized mutually causal relationship between community connectedness and civic engagement, suggesting each reinforces the other. We also found evidence in-person communication with other transgender people was a larger predictor of political participation than online communication. Taken together, our results move us beyond the traditional sociodemographic or media-use predictors toward a more socially embedded perspective of civic engagement among marginalized groups, demonstrating the vital significance of connectedness to one’s identity-based community.

Collective Protest and Expressive Action Among University Students in Hong Kong: Associations Between Offline and Online Forms of Political Participation

Youth have often been described as politically apathetic or disengaged, particularly with respect to more conventional forms of participation. However, they tend to prefer non-institutionalized modes of political action and they may express themselves on the Internet. Young people have also been recognized as having a “latent preparedness” to get politically active when needed. This paper reports forms of offline and online participation adopted by young adults in Hong Kong who were surveyed shortly before the anti-extradition bill social movement of 2019 and 1 year later. The results tentatively suggest that young adults may not be very active in politics when they do not perceive the need to bring about change. However, they are involved in expressive activities and on the Internet more broadly, and ready to turn their latent participation into concrete political participation when they are dissatisfied with government actions and believe it is their responsibility to act against laws perceived to be unjust. Cross-sectional and cross-lagged panel analyses show that youth’s participation in offline political activities is associated with their online participation. Positive effects of past experiences in each mode on participation in offline and online political activities show the mobilizing potential of social media and provide support for the reinforcement hypothesis, though previous participation in offline activities appears as a better predictor of political participation when compared with prior participation on the Internet.

Power distance orientation as an antecedent of individuals’ intentions to engage in radical political action

The cultural dimension of power distance refers to individuals’ acceptance of power inequalities in society. Countries characterized by high power distance at the collective level face more domestic extremism. However, research has yet to examine how individual differences in power distance orientation may affect individuals’ intentions to engage in radical and violent political action. In this research, we test the hypothesis that stronger endorsement of power distance values makes people more prone to express their intentions to engage in radical and violent political action. To test the hypothesis’ generalizability across contexts, we sample from 2 countries characterized by different levels of power distance at the collective level, South Korea (higher power distance) and the United States (lower power distance). Studies 1a and 1b were surveys ( N = 1,214) demonstrating an association between power distance orientation and radical political action over and beyond other known predictors of political participation, including political efficacy, perceived justice, emotions of anger and contempt, political orientation, and social dominance orientation. In Studies 2a–2c ( N = 430; 2c preregistered), priming a higher (vs. lower) power distance orientation heightened individuals’ propensity to express the intentions to engage in radical political action. Theoretical implications of the findings, and future research directions, are discussed.

The Impact of Social Capital and Media Use on the Political Participation of Urban Residents

Through an analysis of the data collected by China General Social Survey (CGSS) on urban residents in 2005, this study finds out that the factors of social network and reciprocity that affected social capital are significant positive predictors of political participation within and outside the system in Chinese cities. And it also finds out that the exposure to news in media use is also a significant positive predictor of political participation within and outside the system. However, time for watching television is the only positive predictor for partial political participation within the system. The results reveal that the impact of media use on the political participation of urban residents depends on exposure to news rather than the time of media use. The theoretical contribution of this study is that exposure to news in media use is still a significant positive predictor for the political participation of urban residents, even after controlling the variable of social capital and other factors. This implies that political participation is related to social capital, which stems from interpersonal communication, as well as news use, which stems from mass communication.

Issue Importance, Third-Person Effects of Protest News, and Participation in Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement

How do news coverage of a grassroot protest movement and perceived importance of the movement affect people’s participation in the movement? And does people’s inference of the effect of the news on themselves versus others make a difference in participation? Informed by the third-person effect hypothesis, we examine these questions in the context of the student-led Sunflower Movement in Taiwan that rose in opposition to a trade pact with China. In the study, we advanced three propositions: First, that the perceived effects of the protest news on oneself would be a better predictor of political participation than would perceived effects of such news on others. Second, that the perceived effect on oneself, not on others, would enhance the impact of issue importance on participation in the movement. And third, how people processed protest news would be another intermediate mechanism on subsequent participatory activities. We found support for these propositions in data collected from a probability sample of 1,137 respondents. The implications of the findings for the robust third-person effect research are discussed.

The Future of Healthcare

The U.S. healthcare environment is undergoing rapid change. New policies have reshaped healthcare through reimbursement models focused on access and quality. Advocating for policies that improve population health is important for health professionals and students. For this reason, educators need to know how to prepare students to be active in the political process. Using the Civic Volunteerism Model, factors influencing nursing and public health students' political participation were examined. Both groups had relatively low levels of political participation and differences in types of political activities. The best predictor of political participation was found to be psychological engagement (e.g., political efficacy, partisanship, political interest). Students were more politically active if they attended school part-time, employed more than part-time, and were non-traditional students. Suggested educational strategies and use of social media were discussed. Further exploration of social media as a source of political information and recruitment is recommended.

The social activist: conformity to the ingroup following rejection as a predictor of political participation

Humans have an overwhelming desire to belong to social groups and if rejected, may act ingratiatory, and conform more easily, to a new accepting group (Williams, 2007) to establish themselves as a valued group member. We investigated whether following rejection, individuals were more willing to participate in and condone varying political actions against an excluding and opposing organization on behalf of a new organization. Results showed that rejected participants were more inclined to be politically active toward the outgroup, and this effect was magnified in those high in rejection sensitivity. Effects were mediated by thwarted inclusionary needs, suggesting that actions directed toward an outgroup may be driven by pro-social belongingness needs rather than outgroup aggression.

Facing the Economic Crisis in Greece: The Effects of Grievances, Real and Perceived Vulnerability, and Emotions Towards the Crisis on Reactions to Austerity Measures

This research was conducted in Greece during a period of major economic crisis when everyday events contributed to a changing and threatening socio-political environment. The paper looks at the structure of reactions Greek people (N=1040) have towards the crisis. Informed by social psychological theories of collective action and relative deprivation it is hypothesized that these reactions would depend on people's actual financial position, their sense of grievances and feelings of vulnerability and the emotions they felt towards the crisis. Results show that people have multiple ways of reacting that go from radical and even violent practices towards individual solutions and depression. These reactions are differently predicted by people's position, feelings of vulnerability and sense of grievances and by different emotions. It is not people's actual position that influences reactions and feelings of vulnerability are a major predictor. Moreover, sense of grievances are linked to more radical forms of action but also to depression. Emotions play an important role in predicting reactions to the crisis. Anger is confirmed as a predictor of political participation and collective action whereas fear and frustration are a major predictor of depression. Positive emotions also predict collective action with the exception of violent practices.

Socio-Economic Modernization as a Predictor of Political Participation in Barangay 27 Cagayan de Oro City

The study was conducted to determine whether socioeconomic modernization affects political participation at Barangay 27, Cagayan de Oro City from C.Y. 2000 to 2010. This is necessary to create a projection of political participation of the residents in Barangay 27 in the future. Economic development can bring many changes in a society. Among them and the most important one is that it usually creates a condition that affects the level of political participation. Among many theories that offer to explain the empirical connection between economic development and political participation is the Modernization Theory by Seymour Martin Lipset which provides the common idea that the process of economic development leads to clusters of social changes that will drastically alter the class, organizational, cultural, and social structure of a nation and how these are associated with new forms of political participation. Using simple statistics, the study discovered that the socio-economic profile of Barangay 27 from C.Y. 2000-2010 had increased gradually. This due to the increased number of business establishments in the area and the increased migration of people from other places to the said area, thus improving political participation. The study found out that there exists a relationship between socio-economic modernization and political participation through this socio-economic development in Barangay 27 political participation in terms of voters’ turn out is therefore anticipated to increase until 2019 elections.

Fostering Cautious Political Efficacy Through Civic Advocacy Projects: A Mixed Methods Case Study of an Innovative High School Class

One of the strongest predictors of political participation is political efficacy, the belief that individuals' action can influence governmental processes. Prior research indicates that political efficacy is higher for individuals who have had opportunities to discuss public issues (e.g., Hahn, 1999; Morrell, 2005) and participate in small-scale democratic processes (e.g., Dressner, 1990; Stroupe & Sabato, 2004). In this study, the author examined one high school course in which students had these experiences through their completion of civic advocacy projects. These projects required students to identify, investigate, and advocate for public issues of concern to them. Throughout the semester-long course, the author recorded fieldnotes on classroom observations, conducted interviews, and administered surveys. Findings indicate that completing civic advocacy projects positively influenced students' development of political efficacy and their understanding of political challenges, but it also reduced their self-efficacy for their own persistence. Key features of the teacher's pedagogy were problem-framing, teaching civic skills, and personalized project facilitation.

Knowledge and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Political Participation and Civic Attitudes: With Relevance for Educational Practice

The results reported in this article are part of a larger study of the political competencies of students in Norwegian upper secondary school. The main focus of this study is how to teach civics in secondary school as a preparation for democratic citizenship. In this study, it is argued that self-efficacy and motivation, in addition to knowledge, are key competence variables that should be studied simultaneously. Five similar causal models are constructed to explore the relationship between the competence variables and various forms of political participation, tolerance and involvement. Five structural equation models (SEMs) are then estimated using LISREL. The main results for the three mediation variables are as follows: self-efficacy is a stronger predictor of motivation and three aspects of political participation than knowledge. Knowledge, on the other hand, is moderately related to motivation, but is a stronger predictor of civic attitudes than self-efficacy, while motivation is a strong predictor of both future participation and civic attitudes. The results thus confirm that competence other than knowledge is vital to civic participation. Finally, the relevance of these results for civic education in upper secondary schools is discussed. It is emphasized that enhancing students’ self-efficacy in the political field (often referred to as ‘internal political efficacy’) may be of equal, if not greater, importance for school education as promoting civic competence.