1,721,007 research outputs found
Introduction:
No full textHow do we govern ourselves? Why do some people have more say over what the government does than others? While these might seem like complex questions, in many ways it is a simple process. A representative democracy can be divided into three parts: the people, elected officials and government institutions, and policy outcomes (Figure 1.1). The arrows in Figure 1.1 symbolize how these three parts are interconnected. Starting from the left, the first arrow symbolizes the ability of citizens in a free society to articulate their preferences to the government. The second arrow symbolizes the influence that elected officials an
The Lasting Effect of Civic Talk on Civic Participation: Evidence from a Panel Study
Full text linkExtant research shows that individuals who discuss politics and current events with their peers also participate more actively in civil society. However, this correlation is not sufficient evidence of causation due to a number of analytical biases. To address this problem, data were collected through a panel study conducted on students at a large public university in the Midwestern United States. These data show that discussing politics and current events caused these students to participate in civic activities during their first year of college. A follow-up study conducted on the same population during their fourth year of college shows that the positive effect of civic talk on civic participation still exists despite the passage of three years. Further analysis shows that the boost in civic participation initially after engaging in civic talk is the mechanism by which the effect of civic talk lasts into the future. These findings illustrate the need to account for both individual- and social-level antecedents of civic participation when studying participatory democracy
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The Sociological Bases of Political Preferences and Behavior
No full textThe Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts
No full textKlofstad reviews The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts by Henry Milner
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Talk Leads to Recruitment How Discussions about Politics and Current Events Increase Civic Participation
No full textThere is a positive relationship between how much we talk about politics and current events and how much we participate in civic activities. However, analytical biases make it difficult to accurately estimate the causal influence of talk on individual behavior. Moreover, existing data sources do not include information on the mechanisms that might explain how individuals translate talk into action. These problems are addressed with new data that were collected through a natural experiment. The results show that civic discussions promote civic participation largely because during such discussions we are recruited to become involved
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Florida’s Latino Electorate in the 2012 Election
No full textIn two important ways, Florida is an outlier compared to many of the other states covered in this volume. First, Florida is a relative bystander in the debate on immigration reform. Florida does not share a border with Mexico, and Latinos living in Florida are also much less likely to know an undocumented immigrant compared to Latinos in other states. Second, due to Florida’s large Cuban American population, Florida’s Latino community is more supportive of the Republican Party compared to its counterparts in other states.
Importantly, however, in looking at the 2012 election these differences between Latinos in Florida an
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Civic Talk and Civic Participation The Moderating Effect of Individual Predispositions
No full textIndividuals who discuss politics and current events in their social network also participate in civic activities. However, analytical biases make it difficult to show a causal relationship between these two phenomena. To obtain a more accurate measurement of the effect that civic talk has on civic participation, data were collected through a panel study conducted on students who were randomly assigned to their college dormitory roommates. These data show that engaging in civic talk causes civic participation. The evidence also shows that the civic talk effect is mitigated for individuals who are not already predisposed to participate in civic activities
Candidate Voice Pitch Influences Election Outcomes
No full textA growing literature in psychology shows that human voice pitch—perceived “highness” or “lowness” as determined by the physiology of the throat—influences how speakers are perceived. This leads to the prediction that candidate voice pitch influences voters. Here this question is addressed with two studies. The first is an experiment conducted with a large national sample of U.S. adults. The results show that men and women prefer to vote for male and female candidates with lower pitched voices. The second study examines the outcomes of the 2012 U.S. House elections. When facing male opponents, candidates with lower voices won a larger vote share. However, when facing female opponents, candidates with higher voices were more successful and particularly so in the case of male candidates. In synthesizing research on the human voice and voter behavior and triangulating evidence from a controlled experiment and a large observational study of actual elections, this article illustrates that candidate voice pitch influences election outcomes
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Enchanted America: How Intuition and Reason Divide Our Politics
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