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Assessing How Participators Combine Acts in Their “Political Tool Kits”: A Person-Centered Measurement Approach for Analyzing Citizen Participation

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  • Jennifer Oser

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Abstract

Scholars have recognized that a recent increase in the ways citizens participate beyond the electoral arena may be a promising avenue of renewal for citizen participation. In this article we test the theory that different kinds of citizenship norms motivate some citizens to specialize in electoral-oriented activities (e.g. voting), while others specialize in non-institutionalized activities (e.g. protest). The latent class analysis of data from the U.S. Citizen, Involvement and Democracy Survey (2005) in the current study assesses how actors combine a variety of acts in their “political tool kits” of participation, and facilitates a comparison to prior findings that analyze single political behaviors. Results indicate a participatory type that specializes in non-institutionalized acts, but the group’s high probability of voting does not align with the expectations in the literature. An electoral-oriented specialist type is not identified; instead, the findings show that a majority of the population is best characterized as disengaged, while a small group of all-around activists embrace all possible opportunities for political action. The actor-centered theoretical and measurement approach in this study identifies caveats to the theory that changing citizenship norms are leading to civic and political renewal. We discuss the implications of these findings for measuring different aspects of democratic (dis)engagement and participatory (in)equality.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Oser, 2017. "Assessing How Participators Combine Acts in Their “Political Tool Kits”: A Person-Centered Measurement Approach for Analyzing Citizen Participation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 235-258, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:133:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1364-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1364-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Young Min Baek, 2010. "To Buy or Not to Buy: Who are Political Consumers? What do they Think and How Do they Participate?," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58, pages 1065-1086, December.
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    8. Jennifer Oser & Jan E. Leighley & Kenneth M. Winneg, 2014. "Participation, Online and Otherwise: What's the Difference for Policy Preferences?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1259-1277, December.
    9. Mario Quaranta, 2016. "An Apathetic Generation? Cohorts’ Patterns of Political Participation in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 793-812, February.
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    12. Cosimo Talò & Terri Mannarini, 2015. "Measuring Participation: Development and Validation the Participatory Behaviors Scale," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 799-816, September.
    13. Young Min Baek, 2010. "To Buy or Not to Buy: Who are Political Consumers? What do they Think and How Do they Participate?," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(5), pages 1065-1086, December.
    14. Welzel, Christian & Deutsch, Franziska, 2012. "Emancipative Values and Non-Violent Protest: The Importance of ‘Ecological’ Effects," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(2), pages 465-479, April.
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    17. Sofie Marien & Marc Hooghe & Ellen Quintelier, 2010. "Inequalities in Non‐institutionalised Forms of Political Participation: A Multi‐level Analysis of 25 countries," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(1), pages 187-213, February.
    18. Russell J. Dalton, 2008. "Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of Political Participation," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56, pages 76-98, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jennifer Oser & Marc Hooghe & Zsuzsa Bakk & Roberto Mari, 2023. "Changing citizenship norms among adolescents, 1999-2009-2016: A two-step latent class approach with measurement equivalence testing," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 4915-4933, October.
    3. Desirée Campagna & Giulio Caperna & Valentina Montalto, 2020. "Does Culture Make a Better Citizen? Exploring the Relationship Between Cultural and Civic Participation in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 657-686, June.
    4. David Johann & Markus Steinbrecher & Kathrin Thomas, 2020. "Channels of participation: Political participant types and personality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-13, October.
    5. Manja Coopmans, 2019. "Dutch Liberation Festivals: A Vehicle to More Politically Active Young Citizens, or Merely the Same Selective Audience?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 617-643, April.
    6. Cato Waeterloos & Peter Conradie & Michel Walrave & Koen Ponnet, 2021. "Digital Issue Movements: Political Repertoires and Drivers of Participation among Belgian Youth in the Context of ‘School Strike for Climate’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, September.

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