Political Participation UoY Year 3 FULL NOTES

Political Participation and Democracy


Year 3
2019 – 2020

,POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY




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,POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY




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, POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY


TABLE OF CONTENTS


LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................5

SEMINAR 1: CITIZEN POLITICS..................................................................................................12

LECTURE 2: POLTICAL CULTURE AND POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS............................................20

SEMINAR 2: CIVIC POLITICAL CULTURE ...................................................................................26

LECTURE 3: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND TURNOUT ..........................................................32

SEMINAR 3: ELECTORAL TURNOUT .........................................................................................41

LECTURE 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICAL PARTICIPATION .........................47

SEMINAR 4: PSYCHOLOGY OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION ......................................................55

LECTURE 5: THE SOCIAL BASES ON PARTY SUPPORT...............................................................60

SEMINAR 5: SOCIAL CLASS BEHIND ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR..................................................67

LECTURE 6: VALUES AND IDENTITY..........................................................................................78

SEMINAR 6: VALUES OF MATERIALISM VS POST-MAETRIALISM.............................................85

LECTURE 7: POPULISM .............................................................................................................93

SEMINAR 7: POPULIST ZEITGEIST VS ANGER AND FEAR ........................................................103

LECTURE 8: MEDIA AND THE INTERNET ................................................................................111

SEMINAR 8: ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE MEDIA .........................................................112




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, POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY


07/10/2019
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION

The aims of the module
• To understand the citizen as political actor
• Individual and contextual aspects of participation and political choice
o Different socio-economic factors, other factors
• Comparison across time and country
o Both, of participation and political choice

What Is political participation?
• Range of participation activities seemingly endless, over 70 different activities been
considered forms of political participation (Van Deth, 2001)
• Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political
sphere
• Extension of freedom of speech and association
• Definition
o “Actions undertaken by ordinary citizens that are intended, directly or
indirectly, to influence the selection of government personnel and/or the
policy decisions they make” (Bennet & Bennet, 1986)
o Costly?
o What if just personal benefits?
▪ It can be personal benefit for ourselves or our friends, family
o Distinction between conventional (formal) and unconventional (informal)
forms of political participation
o This very broad definition includes different types of action

Conventional political participation
• Participation that uses the channels of representative government
o Low-initiative acts, such as voting, do not require much effort by the individual
o High-initiative acts require active participation by individuals to obtain benefits
for a group. Such activities can be associated with the electoral process, or they
can be separate (contacting officials)
• Forms of participation
o Voting
o Contacting politicians
o Discussing politics
o Election /campaign related work
o Donations
o Involvement in a group to raise issues with the government
o Joining a political party, becoming an independent politician

Unconventional political participation
• Behavior that challenges or defies government channels or the dominant culture


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, POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY


• It is usually personally stressful for both participants and their opponents and tends
to interfere with the daily lives of people
• People participating in unconventional ways (such as direct political action) tend to
share three characteristics
1. Distrust of the political system
2. A strong sense of political efficacy
3. A highly developed sense of group consciousness
• Forms of participation
o Writing
▪ ‘Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of the Vice President’ book has been
rewritten in a gay bunny version ‘A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo’ to
make a political statement
o Arts
o Demonstrations
▪ Fridays for Future
▪ Extinction Rebellion
o Direct action/violence
o Boycotting/boycotting
o Civic volunteering/community work
o Workplace/education/health
related activism
o Donation
▪ Facebook birthday donations




Current general consensus
• Conventional wisdom among politics scholars is that participation in conventional
modes of politics – voting, support for a membership in political parties is in decline
• Levels of trust and satisfaction with performance of political actors/agents (politicians,
parliaments, parties) have gone down
• Criticism/scepticism of elites in general has grown
• These trends are particularly pronounced among young people
• However, support for democracy as a system and overall regime remained stable,
highly supported


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