1st Edition
Political and Civic Engagement Multidisciplinary perspectives
Based upon a three-year multi-disciplinary international research project, Political and Civic Participation examines the interplay of factors affecting civic and political engagement and participation across different generations, nations and ethnic groups, and the shifting variety of forms that participation can take.
The book draws upon an extensive body of data to answer the following key questions:
- Why do many citizens fail to vote in elections?
- Why are young people turning increasingly to street demonstrations, charitable activities, consumer activism and social media to express their political and civic views?
- What are the barriers which hinder political participation by women, ethnic minorities and migrants?
- How can greater levels of engagement with public issues be encouraged among all citizens?
Together, the chapters in this volume provide a comprehensive overview of current understandings of the factors and processes which influence citizens’ patterns of political and civic engagement. They also present a set of evidence-based recommendations for policy, practice and intervention that can be used by political and civil society actors to enhance levels of engagement, particularly among youth, women, ethnic minorities and migrants.
Political and Civic Participation provides an invaluable resource for all those who are concerned with citizens’ levels of engagement, including: researchers and academics across the social sciences; politicians and political institutions; media professionals; educational professionals and schools; youth workers and education NGOs; and leaders of ethnic minority and migrant organizations and communities.
Section 1: Introduction 1. Political and civic engagement: Theoretical understandings, evidence and policies, Martyn Barrett and Bruna Zani Section 2: Theoretical understandings 2. Individual political participation and macro contextual determinants, Kateřina Vráblíková and Ondřej Císař 3. Influencing women’s civic and political participation: Contextual and individual determinants, Yvonne Galligan 4. Participation and integration: The contextual factors influencing minority and migrant participation, Victoria Montgomery 5. How context shapes individual level determinants of political participation: The impact of multiple negative party identification on turnout in deeply divided Northern Ireland, John Garry 6. Standby citizens: Understanding non-participation in contemporary democracies, Erik Amnå and Joakim Ekman 7. Democratic ownership and deliberative participation, Cillian McBride 8. Social and psychological factors influencing political and civic participation: A psychosocial perspective, Elvira Cicognani and Bruna Zani 9. Explaining political participation: Integrating levels of analysis, Nicholas P. Emler 10.An integrative model of political and civic participation: Linking the macro, social and psychological levels of explanation, Martyn Barrett Section 3: Evidence 11. Political and civic participation: Findings from the modelling of existing survey data sets, Ian Brunton-Smith and Martyn Barrett 12. Civic organizations and the Internet as the opportunities for minority youth civic participation: Findings from the Czech Republic, Jan Šerek, Zuzana Petrovičová, and Petr Macek 13. Participation and engagement of young people in Germany: Findings on adolescents and young adults of German and Turkish family background, Peter Noack and Philipp Jugert 14. Civic engagement among migrant youths in Sweden: Do parental norms or immigration generation matter? Yunhwan Kim and Erik Amnå 15. Predictors of civic and political participation among native and migrant youth in Italy: The role of organizational membership, sense of community and perceived social well being, Cinzia Albanesi, Davide Mazzoni, Elvira Cicognani and Bruna Zani 16. Participation among youth, women and migrants: Findings from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation of Belgium, Claire Gavray, Michel Born and Bernard Fournier 17. Participation among youth, women, and migrants: Findings from Portugal, Maria Fernandes-Jesus, Carla Malafaia, Norberto Ribeiro and Isabel Menezes 18. Participation among Turkish, Roma and Bulgarian resettler youth living in Turkey, Tülin Şener 19. The expectations and understandings of influential others who can mobilise youth participation: Findings from England, Dimitra Pachi and Martyn Barrett Section 4: Policy 20. Europeanization of policy discourses on participation and active citizenship, Cristiano Bee and Roberta Guerrina 21. The ‘Europeanization’ of gender policies in Portugal: Transformations in women’s access to civil, political and social rights, Norberto Ribeiro, Pedro D. Ferreira, Carla Malafaia and Isabel Menezes 22. Government perspectives on civic and political participation of youth and women in Turkey: Deriving insights from policy documents, Sümercan Bozkurt, Figen Çok and Tülin Şener 23. Active citizenship in Italy and the UK: Comparing political discourse and practices of political participation, civic activism and engagement in policy processes, Cristiano Bee and Paola Villano Section 5: Reflections and extensions 24. Cross-national political and civic engagement research on European adolescents and young adults: Considerations at the individual, context, and process levels, Judith Torney-Purta and Jo-Ann Amadeo 25. The Council of Europe´s work on "Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education" and its links to the PIDOP project, Reinhild Otte 26. In search of political participation, Giovanni Moro Appendix A: The focus group guide used in the PIDOP project Appendix B: The interview schedule used in the PIDOP project Appendix C: The questionnaire used in the PIDOP project Appendix D: The recommendations for policy, practice and intervention which emerged from the PIDOP project, Martyn Barrett and David Garbin
Biography
Martyn Barrett is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Surrey, UK.
Bruna Zani is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Bologna, Italy.
The international PIDOP consortium, funded by the European Commission, has produced a ground-breaking volume on citizen engagement, political participation, and the complex nature of policy discourse in democratic societies. This scientifically rich, multi-national, and interdisciplinary volume could not have arrived at a more propitious time as scholars, politicians, and policy makers in many countries scramble to better understand the nature and consequences of shifting patterns of civic participation among youth, women, ethnic minorities, and migrant constituencies. This collaborative volume is a must read for anyone interested in how social and policy science illuminates what we know and need to know about political and civic engagement. – Eugene Borgida, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, USA
Centering on the civic and political experiences of those less heard, this book offers a rigorous cross-disciplinary, multi-national investigation into the opportunities for and challenges of participation in contemporary Europe. This is an impressive and superbly executed achievement from a truly collaborative endeavor to work across the key social science disciplines to better understand this fundamental social issue. Together the contributors develop a deep and nuanced understanding of barriers and enablers in regard to engagement and advance conceptual frameworks for current times. Drawing on a range of studies, the book delivers vital insights into theory, policy, and practice that are transforming ways of both seeing and doing political and civic engagement. Its breadth and depth make it a must-read for students and scholars seeking a comprehensive overview of contemporary theorising and the latest research findings on possibilities for active citizenship in a changing world. – Anita Harris, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Australia
