Young People and Politics: Political Engagement in the Anglo-American Democracies by Aaron Martin

Author:Aaron Martin [Martin, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780415696913
Google: ttuBMQRxWvIC
Goodreads: 13716466
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-05-24T00:00:00+00:00

The ISSP data allows us to take into account non-electoral forms of participation that have been said to be overlooked by scholars who have concentrated on electoral forms of participation. However, the ISSP data does not completely resolve this problem. In trying to measure and analyse non-electoral forms of participation we run into definitional problems. While the variables in the ISSP cover a wider range of activities than many other studies the boundary between political and civic engagement is not always clear (see Zukin et al., 2006, 52). Norris (2003, 5) points out that for many types of non-electoral participation the division between ‘social’ and ‘political’ breaks down. We can see this in terms of the question wording in the ISSP by which respondents are asked whether they ‘Boycotted or deliberately bought certain products for political, ethical or environmental reasons.’ This is a good example of the breakdown between the ‘social’ and the ‘political.’ Hay (2008, 75) argues that ‘Consumer politics takes place outside of the governmental arena, yet responds to concerns which are formally recognized politically and on which there may well be active legislative and diplomatic agendas.’

Furthermore, many types of non-electoral participation are situational rather than generic (Norris, 2002, 194). As such, some important forms of engagement may be missed. ‘Jane Junn notes that if Rosa Parks had been asked standard survey questions about her civic engagement, she would not have been able to mention her most famous political act: sitting in the front of a segregated bus’ (Levine, 2007, 55).1 Schudson (1998) also argues because politics infiltrates so many parts of life measuring ‘political’ participation is extremely difficult (see also Marsh et al., 2007).

How exactly we resolve these problems is not clear. One way is to follow the approach taken by Marsh et al. (2007) who conducted qualitative research examining young people’s engagement with politics, broadly understood. But there remains a risk that we stretch the definition of politics so far as to empty ‘the political/non-political distinction of any meaning, subsuming everything within the former category’ (Hay, 2008, 77). At any rate, today there seems to be less agreement about where ‘politics’ begins and ends. It seems clear that what is defined as ‘political’ has broadened (as I argue below) and this poses particular problems for academics who write surveys (as I will elaborate on in the next chapter). While acknowledging these problems this chapter tries to take into account the variety of young people’s political engagement first by examining a wide array of activity and second by using a data source that better captures young people’s participation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.