Role Of Civic Engagement Research Articles

Let’s keep boys out: promoting exclusion as a means to actualize feminist digital citizenship in China

ABSTRACT Although exclusion is often perceived as antithetical to civil society, many feminist activists advocate for excluding men from their spaces to prevent conflicts and create safer environments. This tension prompts a deeper exploration of exclusion’s role in civic engagement. This study aims to examines the role of exclusion in feminist digital activism through a textual analysis of how members of an online Chinese feminist community promote exclusion. The findings challenge traditional perspectives by suggesting that exclusion can be a crucial tool for feminists to participate in civic life, protect their rights, and assert their agency. This study also reveals that exclusion plays a significant role in the ongoing formation of feminist identity. While the exclusion of men may initially appear to reinforce binary gender norms, it can also serve as a catalyst for exploring and embracing the fluidity of gender and political identity.

City Limits: Urban Nature Rules and the Role of Civic Engagement in Minneapolis—St. Paul Metro Area, USA

Formal rules define urban governance, yet in democratic systems like the United States, institutions governing public input shape decision-making. Governance literature needs more breadth on how civic engagement varies across types of nature and its implications for urban social-ecological systems. We analyzed five cities’ ordinances within the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region, identifying nature-based rules and civic engagement mechanisms. We found ten engagement mechanisms across six nature types, primarily discussed within zoning ordinances—farm animals being the exception. Public hearings were the most frequently mentioned engagement mechanism, yet they have documented biases toward elite perspectives. Despite codification of engagement opportunities, it remains unclear whether utilized mechanisms support substantive input and influence into urban nature governance. Our study not only lays groundwork for research on how to address the inequitable distribution of nature-related benefits and burdens felt by some urban communities, but also inspires further exploration into this crucial area of study.

Citizens’ Satisfaction with “Citizens’ Initiatives”: The Case of the Municipality of Ljubljana

Abstract Based on a survey, this article analyses the satisfaction with communication between citizens and public servants in the Municipality of Ljubljana (MOL). It highlights the potential of a citizen relations management tool to emphasise the importance of effective communication between the municipality and citizens, the role of civic engagement in the development of the municipality and the importance of understanding and managing differences in satisfaction between citizens and public servants. A notable satisfaction gap exists, with citizens generally more satisfied than public servants, except for accessibility to initiatives and problem-solving. The study recommends adopting successful tools, such as those used in Ljubljana, to improve communication, citizen participation and the quality of services. It emphasises the importance of understanding communication dynamics to tailor municipal improvements and promote civic engagement and calls for further research in Central and Eastern European municipalities.

124. Rural vs. Urban Differences in Climate Change Anxiety and the Role of CIVIC Engagement Among California Adolescents

124. Rural vs. Urban Differences in Climate Change Anxiety and the Role of CIVIC Engagement Among California Adolescents

Social injustice as a common source epidemic: the role of civic engagement in addressing inequitable population health

Social injustice as a common source epidemic: the role of civic engagement in addressing inequitable population health

Time matters: civic engagement and the development of anti-immigrant attitudes among adolescents

A recurring claim in the literature is that civic engagement in voluntary associations is crucial for the formation of a variety of interpersonal attitudes, such as social trust, tolerance, and intolerance. In this article, we study the role of membership in voluntary associations and volunteer work in the development of anti-immigrant attitudes among adolescents. Using a four-wave longitudinal design with a target sample comprising approximately 2000 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 16 at the first measurement occasion, this study contributes to previous research by analysing the impact on anti-immigrant attitudes of different dimensions of membership in voluntary associations and volunteer work. The results showed that membership in voluntary associations and volunteer work over several years serve to decrease anti-immigrant attitudes among adolescents over time. In addition, volunteering over several years seems to have a somewhat stronger impact on anti-immigrant attitudes than do various aspects of membership in associations. Our study also shows that anti-immigrant attitudes become more firmly established with age and that membership in only certain types of voluntary associations relates to attitudes toward immigrants. In sum, this study contributes to previous research focusing on the role of civic engagement in the development of interpersonal attitudes.

THE ROLE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN INCREASING LEARNING MOTIVATION OF COASTAL CHILDREN

The involvement of citizens in participation as an embodiment of a sense of awareness and the desire to contribute will form an activity that can influence and lead to change. The maritime children's school community is a forum for citizens to participate in an activity in order to increase the motivation to learn coastal children. The purpose of the study was to know the role of civic engagement in increasing the motivation to learn coastal children. This research was conducted at the School of Marine Children located in the village of Tanjung Kait, District Mauk, Tangerang Regency using a qualitative approach. Data collection is how to interview, study documentation, and observation by analyzing data using Miles and Haberrman models. The results of the study state that the role of participant or citizen involvement in the learning process through extrinsic motivation in the form of material and moral rewards. A good and conducive learning environment by providing appropriate facilities and infrastructure, and interesting learning activities by learning while playing to create an innovative learning atmosphere. With this enhancement of children's learning motivation can be done on the involvement of citizens as instructors at the nautical children's school.
 

The Past, Present, and Religious Studies Future of Civic Engagement in American Higher Education

We argue that Civic Engagement is fundamental to the stated work of the university, the humanities, and the project of religious studies. We trace the historical connections between Civic Engagement and higher education in the American context to the present, highlighting a consistency of focus on Civic Engagement across diverse university contexts even as educational priorities and instantiations shift. We then explore the particular role of Civic Engagement in Religious Studies pedagogy. We contend that being explicit about integrating Civic Engagement in the religion classroom enhances our students’ ability to understand complex concepts in late antique religion and underscores for them how relevant the study of late ancient religion is to students’ lives today. We offer three ways that instructors in Religious Studies can incorporate Civic Engagement into their classes: cultivating naming practices, focusing pedagogical exercises on honing students’ Civic Engagement skills, and, where practicable, engaging in community-based learning.

Provocative engagement: Documentary audiences and performances in The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence

Through an analysis of The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014), this article explores the idea of provocative engagement as a way of extending our understanding of the affective dimensions of documentary and its role in civic engagement. The study draws on qualitative research, based on interviews with the filmmaker, and interviews with 52 viewers in Denmark, Sweden, Japan and Colombia. This data is used to explore the idea of subjectivity in documentary through the performance of memory, power and impunity in both films concerning the perpetrators and victims of the Indonesian genocide of 1965. Overall, our analysis highlights how performance documentary challenges the affective relationships between filmmakers and their audiences, and in this particular case we see a type of raw, provocative engagement with the act of documenting genocide, the act of watching, and what this means to people in the context of their political and lived realities.

Neighborhood collective efficacy and collective action: The role of civic engagement.

Theory suggests that by strengthening collective efficacy among neighbors, neighborhoods can more effectively engage in collective action. The research linking the two components of collective efficacy-social cohesion and social control-with collective action is limited. This study uses structural equation modeling with a nationally representative sample from the United States Census Bureau's American Housing Survey (N=22,106) to analyze these relationships. This analysis finds that neither component of collective efficacy is directly associated with collective action. Instead, social cohesion is negatively, directly associated with civic engagement, social control is positively directly associated with civic engagement, and civic engagement is positively associated with collective action. Social cohesion and social control are indirectly associated with collective action when including civic engagement. Understanding the associations between collective efficacy, civic engagement, and collective action is informative for understanding effective and efficient community participation to facilitate change.

Developing political capabilities with Community-Based Monitoring for health accountability: The case of the Mahila Swasthya Adhikar Manch

ABSTRACTCommunity-Based Monitoring (CBM) is a participatory process in which citizens gather evidence on services to hold governments accountable to their commitments. Research on CBM for health in developing countries has mostly measured its impact on service performance. Overall, these studies have produced mixed evidence of CBM’s effectiveness. This has led some authors to question the role of civic engagement, especially in communities where expectations from public services and power to demand for change are low. This conclusion, we argue, overlooks the role of the CBM process in fostering both participation and social change. Drawing from qualitative research with the Indian grassroots women’s organisation Mahila Swasthya Adhikar Manch, we argue that CBM can foster political capabilities through mediating communities’ relationships with the state as well as relationships within communities. The engagement of women and their power to demand for change in the health sector and beyond emerges at the intersection of these two spheres. This suggests that measuring the impact of CBM on health services is not sufficient. Expanding the focus of research on CBM to its process is necessary to fully understand the role of civic engagement and to restore its political relevance.

Young Adult Propensity to Join Voluntary Associations: The Role of Civic Engagement and Motivations

Based on a self-selection perspective, this study analyzes the relation between personal civic engagement and the willingness to join a voluntary association by considering the mediating role of motivations. Four factors of civic engagement are considered: civic duty, civic skills, social connection, and civic participation; in addition, three motivations are considered: instrumental, expressive, and career-related. The proposed model is tested using a survey of 408 Spanish young adults with no previous experience as members of any association. The analytical technique used is partial least squares. The findings point that instrumental motivation is the main vehicle to translate the four factors of civic engagement into associational involvement, whereas expressive motivation represents a secondary mediator in the effects of civic duty and social connection. Career-related motivation is not associated with the willingness to join a voluntary association. Implications for the recruitment and retention of young adults in voluntary associations are discussed.

The Resurgence of the Locavore: The Growth of Local Food Markets in the United States

Sociological studies of markets have recognized that markets are embedded in various types of economic exchange institutions. Although a growing number of these studies have examined moral markets, important questions persist: What role, if any, do traditions of civic engagement play in the emergence of moral markets? What is the impact of alternative forms of production on moral markets? Does local social movement activism influence moral markets’ development? We build on sociological theories of markets to address these questions in the context of the rapid growth of markets for local food. Our contribution to theories of market embeddedness and contention is threefold. First, by focusing on the role of civic engagement in the emergence and growth of moral markets, we examine the flip side of the argument that markets foster cooperation because they bind people to one another. Second, we extend sociological arguments about the importance of political processes and interactions among producers by examining whether alternative forms of production impact moral markets’ development. Third, rather than examining the general processes through which movements imbue markets with social values, we examine whether local traditions of social movement activism contribute to the emergence and growth of moral markets.

The Role of Civic Engagement for Men’s Health and Well Being in Norway—A Contribution to Public Health

Objectives: Using the example of older men volunteering on teams that restore historic ships, this article examines the effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. We consider particularly how volunteering impacts levels of social engagement and explore how the men’s reminiscences as they bond with their fellows …

The Role of Civic Engagement in Undergraduate Leadership Courses

Undergraduate leadership courses are becoming increasingly important venues to promote civic engagement. Despite their prominence, the nature of civic engagement in leadership courses has not been examined systematically. This study examined 77 introductory undergraduate leadership courses and the role of civic engagement in these courses. Results indicate that civic engagement components are not widely utilized, and when they are part of the curricula, their implementation and design vary. Recommendations for improving undergraduate leadership curricula are offered.

The Role of Civic Engagement in Undergraduate Leadership Courses

Undergraduate leadership courses are becoming increasingly important venues to promote civic engagement. Despite their prominence, the nature of civic engagement in leadership courses has not been examined systematically. This study examined 77 introductory undergraduate leadership courses and the role of civic engagement in these courses. Results indicate that civic engagement components are not widely utilized, and when they are part of the curricula, their implementation and design vary. Recommendations for improving undergraduate leadership curricula are offered.

Understanding the Role of Civic Engagement and Government Intervention in Predicting Access to Social Services in the Global South: The Case of Palestine

This article investigates factors that influence access to social services in Palestine using data from the Arab-Barometer. Utilizing hierarchical and binary logistic regression procedures, results of this study indicate that a number of factors including age, gender, level of education, and perception of government intervention are important in understanding access to social services. Implications for future policy and research are discussed.

The Role of Civic Engagement in Trisectoral Governance Approaches as Factors for Success in East German Municipalities

The demographic diminution and the special economic situation in the East necessitate flexible strategies that make use of all available on-site resources. This includes taking into account economic concerns in governmental and developmental strategies for the public sector as well as improved integration of ‘active citizens’, for whom the government must provide adequate basic parameters in order to assure lasting and effective participation. In this context, the following article presents the findings of a study on East German municipalities that clarifies the obstacles and specific potentials of a stronger cooperation between the various societal sectors that is characterised by trisectoral governance.

Civic engagement in the policy process in Hong Kong: Change and continuity

AbstractThe role of civic engagement is particularly noteworthy in quasi‐democratic regimes like Hong Kong because it can potentially confer some degree of legitimacy on politics and the policy process. This article examines older and more recent means of civic engagement in the policy process in Hong Kong. The concepts of civic engagement and public participation are addressed, leading into discussions of the established mechanisms for public participation, the pressure on the government's approach to civic engagement since 2003, and the politics of civic action on heritage preservation and urban planning. Hong Kong's experience indicates that in a quasi‐democratic polity the main channels for public participation in the policy process are often dominated by pro‐government business and professional elites, and more participatory mechanisms are only gradually introduced after civic action by civil society groups, as reflected in the recent politics over heritage and planning. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Alabaster cities: urban U.S. since 1950

With keen insight and exhaustive research John Rennie Short narrates the story of urban America from 1950 to the present, revealing a compelling portrait of urban transformation. John Rennie Short chronicles the steady rise of urbanization, the increasing suburbanization, and the sweeping metropolitanization of the U.S., uncovering the forces behind these shifts and their consequences for American communities. Drawing on numerous studies, first-hand anecdotes, census figures, and other statistical data, Rennie's work addresses the globalization of U.S. cities, the increased polarization of urban life in the U.S., the role of civic engagement, and the huge role played by the public sector in shaping the character of cities. With deft analysis, the author weaves together the themes of urban renewal, suburbanization and metropolitan fragmentation, race and ethnicity, and immigration, presenting a fascinating and highly readable account of the U.S. in the second half of the twentieth century.