Political Participation and Cumulative Disadvantage: The Impact of Economic and Social Hardship on Young Citizens

In this article, we seek to provide the most comprehensive exploration to date of the effects of economic and social disadvantage on young citizens' voter turnout. We look at four overlapping domains of hardship—those rooted in (a) the family context, (b) the community context, (c) the school context, and (d) major events and life transitions. Our conceptual model of cumulative advantage/disadvantage identifies the different ways in which disadvantages can have cumulative effects on social outcomes generally and on civic participation in particular. Our framework also suggests how patterns of advantage and disadvantage may be mediated by social institutions. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey, we show that disadvantages rooted in the family have major impact on all groups of young citizens and that family disadvantage interacts with school disadvantage for whites. We also show that the effects of early parenthood, being arrested, and dropping out of school have differential effects depending on race. We also show that community colleges function as civic leveling institutions—especially for African American youth.     

政治和谐视野下当代中国公民政治参与意识的培育

政治和谐构成了当代中国政治发展的目标指向。培育公民政治参与意识是实现政治和谐的重要手段。政治和谐的内在意蕴促生了政治参与意识的发展;和谐政治文化蕴含着政治参与意识培育的生成要素;政治参与意识的培育体现了和谐发展的运行机制。     

自然灾害与政治信任：基于汶川大地震的自然实验设计

在当代中国,自然灾害如何在短期内影响公众的政治信任,其作用机制如何？本文使用在汶川大地震发生前后收集的调查数据,试图通过自然实验设计来回答上述问题。本研究发现：在时间维度上,外生的自然灾害会在短时间内提升公众的政治信任;在结构上,地震对公众政治信任的边际增长效应呈现差序性特征,即对区县政府政治信任的正向作用最强,而对中央政府政治信任的强化作用最弱。在此过程中,国家主导的媒体宣传起到了关键的中介作用,即公众接收官方媒体信息的频率越高,其政治信任在短时间内提升的幅度越大。研究表明,灾后短期内的政府动员与鼓舞性的媒体议程设置是提升公众政治信任的重要影响因素,但从长远来看,切实加强政府的长效治理能力建设始终是巩固政治合法性的关键。     

Gendered Pathways to the Political: The Political Participation of Women Factory Workers in Mexico*

Objectives. The objective of this article is to analyze the mobilization factors available within and without international factories that do and do not contribute to political participation of employees, hypothesizing that the quantity, type, and causal linkages will vary by gender. Methods. Using original survey data of factory employees (N=402) in multiple sectors and regions in Mexico, I test common explanations as to how the factory experience stimulates and stifles the political participation of women employees, exploring whether the causal linkages between the workplace and political engagement are the same for women and men. Results. Contrary to some of the recent research that reveals men to be more politically engaged than women in the Mexican population overall, my data show that among factory workers there is rough parity between men's and women's levels of political engagement. A distinction of note, controlling for other variables, female employees are more likely than male employees to engage in informal political activities. Conclusion. The international factory experience appears to have a limited “egalitarian” effect. The distribution of factors leading to political mobilization for women and men is not equal, yet women are able to translate a distinct set of factors into participation.     

Gender and Political Participation in Australia

A sizeable gender gap in political participation, such that men are more likely to be active than women, is a well-established cross-national finding. But evidence for Australia is scarce, particularly in recent times, and so is international evidence since the mid-1970s. The 1984–85 Australian National Social Science Survey shows only a small gender gap to exist in a variety of political activities, in contrast to past findings. Furthermore, controlling for political interest largely explains the gap in rates of orthodox political participation. A significant gender gap remains in political protest activities, however, despite the introduction of a wide range of controls.     

网络政治参与与青年政治意识的发展

青年的网络政治参与对政治意识发展具有特殊的重要意义。青年的精英意识意味着青年政治意识的责任化,参与精神意味着青年政治意识的实践化。青年政治参与主要表现为网络政治参与,但尚存在群际隔离与互动失序、政治冷漠与政治热情相交织、政治态度倾向上的不满意度及从众性偏激增加以及网络行为的娱乐化、看客心理与"政不关己"的集体无意识等局限与误区。对于青年的网络政治参与,应当以社会利益激发其网络参与动机、引导参与方向,通过教育使青年网民成长为"组织化的公众",训练思想政治教育者成为在线"意见领袖",建立引导网络政治参与的青年教育"在线联合体",并从法律、道德、技术等方面对青年的网络表达进行多向度、发展性规制。     

Faith and Politics: The Influence of Religious Beliefs on Political Participation*

Objective. The relationship between religion and political participation has not been rigorously investigated, typically employing only basic measures of church attendance or denomination. In this study, we utilize precise measures of various religious behaviors, traditions, and beliefs to examine their influence on political participation. Methods. Using data from the Baylor Religion Survey 2005, we demonstrate that merely including measures of church attendance or denomination camouflages much of religion's influence on political participation. Results. We find that religious beliefs are significantly related to national political participation. For religious activities, identifying with a religious tradition reduces participation, but participation in church activities increases political participation. Conclusion. Different types of religious beliefs influence political participation differently. Although some macro religious beliefs significantly increase macro political behavior, believers in an involved God are less likely to participate politically. Individualistic, micro beliefs have no affect on national politics. Thus, the scope of the religious belief fits with the scope of the political activity, in that more macro concerns translate to national political participation.     

宗族与农民的政治参与——对浙中祝村的经验研究

通过对祝村调查,本文指出:(1)尽管在许多正式的制度安排上,个体已成为首要的权责承担者,但在实际的社会生活和政治行为中,当代农民尚处于从"村民"、"族人"等等走向以个体为本位的"公民"的途中;(2)在利益关系是约束农民政治参与的最根本、最重要的因素的情况下,宗族对于农民的政治参与、特别是对于宏观政治的参与,实际上已没有太大的影响;(3)从祝村调查还可以进一步看出,不能仅仅将宗族作为"自变量"来看它对农民政治参与的影响,还应该将宗族对政治参与、政治发展的影响本身看作是经济、政治、文化等宏观变化的"因变量".     

中国转型期政府信任的生成与变迁机制

中国正处于制度变迁的特殊历史时期,转型期下的民众,一方面根据现代正式制度,采用新的观念模式和行动策略评估政府,一方面又受制于传统人情因素,对政府行为作主观评判。这种状况使得政治信任状态呈现明显的不稳定因素。整合民众、政府及制度等因素,能够解释制度如何通过影响民众对环境的预期及其对政府的判断,最终影响政治信任的基本状态。通过改变分析框架中的制度因素,可以探索当制度发生变迁时,人们对政府的信任状态如何随之变化,由此构建基于制度的政治信任的变迁机制。     

公民有序政治参与对服务型政府构建的价值及实现

秩序是政治生活基本的价值,供给秩序是服务型政府的职能定位。服务型政府是公民本位的政府,公民与政府的良性互动是服务型政府建设的基础。但是,惟有有序的公民政治参与才能发挥正向功能,有序的公民政治参与对服务型政府构建具有多层价值。为了充分发挥这种价值和效用,就需要政府、社会组织和公民共同努力推进公民有序政治参与。     

Preparing for Elite Political Participation Simulations and the Political Socialization of Adolescents

Objective. We ask: How do socialization experiences shape adolescent perceptions of and the performance of gender in political leadership roles? We examine a political simulation, Model United Nations, which attracts academically motivated students aspiring to elite roles in politics and government. Methods. Using observational and survey data, we explore adolescent behavior in the simulation as both a learning experience and as a reflection of students' perceptions of leadership behavior. Results. Three critical observations emerge. First, the Model United Nations is a domain in which young women do not play an equal part. Female delegates take far fewer speaking turns. However, contextual factors, including membership on a committee that deals with less masculine issues and on a committee with a female chair, increase the likelihood of female turn‐taking. Second, though participants come to the event with very similar motivations, young women leave less satisfied with their personal effectiveness than do young men. Finally, female delegates are judged less favorably by themselves and others and thus as less successful in the simulation. Conclusions. These findings have normative implications for the recruitment of young women to politics.     

Political Participation Among Latinos in the United States: The Effect of Group Identity and Consciousness*

Objective. How do group identity and consciousness affect Latinos' political participation in the United States? Recent studies that examine this relationship generally focus on a single ethnic group, for example, Mexicans, or the panethnic group, Latino/Hispanic, which limits the scope of their results. This study investigates how group identity and consciousness affect the political participation of differently identified Latinos. Methods. Using the unique 2007 Latino National Survey (LNS), a telephone survey of 8,500 Latino respondents, I investigate how group identity and consciousness affect political participation, as measured by electoral and nonelectoral activities. Results. Findings suggest that Latinos who self‐identify as American are more likely to engage in political action; however, a sense of group consciousness among ethnic, panethnic, and racial‐identified Latinos alters this effect. Conclusion. The type of and extent to which Latinos engage in political action is contingent on primary self‐identity and specific aspects of group consciousness.     

当前我国农民政治参与存在的问题及对策探析

政治参与是普通公民通过各种合法的方式参与政治生活,并影响政治体系的构成、运行方式、运行规则和政策过程的行为。当代中国农民的政治参与出现可喜局面,但是非制度性参与增多、家族势力活动频繁、农民文化水平低、农村妇女政治参与意识薄弱等问题影响着农民政治参与建设。因此,必须从经济、制度、文化、思想观念等方面着手保证农民切身利益的实现。