Religious Identity and Political Participation in the Mennonite Church USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle C. Kopko
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Church Members ◽  
High Identity ◽  
Traditional Doctrine

AbstractThis article examines religious identity and its effect on political participation in the context of the Mennonite Church USA. Traditionally, Mennonite doctrine discouraged political activity because of its “worldly” nature. But it is uncertain if traditional doctrine influences the political behavior of contemporary church members. This article seeks to determine (1) to what extent there is a religious identity among contemporary Mennonites, (2) does this identity discourage support for political participation, and (3) if Mennonite identity discourages political participation, what is the substantive difference in support for political participation between low and high identity Mennonites? The analysis reveals that Mennonite religious identity is widespread in the Mennonite Church USA and high levels of identity decreases support for political activity. Despite this, Mennonites as a whole are fairly supportive of political participation, regardless of their level of identity.

VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CIVIL-POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF YOUNG RUSSIAN PATRIOTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-70
Author(s):  
ANTONINA SELEZNEVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Values ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Patriotic Education ◽  
High Level

Purpose of the study. The article is devoted to the analysis of value orientations, forms of civic engagement and political participation of young Russian citizens who consider themselves patriots. In accordance with the conceptual and methodological provisions developed within the framework of the political and psychological approach, the author examines how the cognitive and behavioral components of the personality structure, which determine the patriotic orientation of youth, relate to each other. Research results. Based on an analysis of the data of an all-Russian survey of young people aged 15 to 30, the author comes to the conclusion that young Russian patriots are interested in politics and identify with Russia. They demonstrate a fairly high level of social activity and have a wide repertoire of forms of civic participation and political behavior. They have attitudes towards conventional forms of political participation (primarily electoral). In the system of values of young patriots, the most significant are human rights, peace, order, legality, security, freedom and justice. Young Russian citizens who consider themselves patriots differ in their political values and behavioral orientations from «non-patriots». The author comes to the conclusion that young patriots have a connection between values and behavioral practices of their implementation, which determines their focus on interaction with the state and society. But this is not typical for young people in general. It is noted that in the future, patriotism can become a factor in the serious intragenerational demarcation of young people. Therefore, significant efforts are required from various institutions of socialization in the field of political education and patriotic education of youth.

What Shapes Political Participation of the Poorest Citizens?

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-43
Author(s):  
Carew Boulding ◽  
Claudio A. Holzner
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Poor People ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Democratic Rights

This chapter presents the theoretical explanation that links core institutional features of democracy (political parties, competitive elections, civil society, and protection of democratic rights) to the political behavior of the poorest citizens. The focus is not only on those factors that boost the political activity of the poor, but those that have a disproportionately strong positive impact on poor people’s activism. The chapter argues that where civil society is strong, where political parties have the capacity and incentives to focus mobilization efforts on the poor, and where democratic institutions are strong, poor people will be able to participate at high levels.

The Political Effects of Religious Cues

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Westfall ◽  
Özge Çelik Russell
Keyword(s):  
Political Behavior ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Language ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Political Candidate ◽  
The Way

Religion is a central and comprehensive identity for billions of people all over the world. Politicians and other political actors recognize the vitality of religion and use it for political purposes, deliberately signaling religion, religiosity, or religious values and connecting them to political outcomes or behaviors in an effort to influence the political preferences of religious practitioners. The most efficient way to make the connection between religion and politics is through religious cues. Religious cues create information shortcuts linking religious identity or values with a political candidate or issue. Religious cues are used by political and religious actors in secular and religious contexts and are typically one of two general types: identity cues, which engage an individual’s religious identity and activate an in-group/out-group effect, and linkage cues, which link religious values or beliefs with an issue or candidate. Identity cues are particularly tricky to use in secular contexts because they have been shown to have strong alienating effects on nonreligious people, thereby defeating the intended purpose of the cue sender. For this reason, coded religious language called “implicit cues” is used with greater frequency in political discourse where only the religious cue receiver recognizes the religious cue for what it is. This strategy allows a political candidate to reap the benefits of the cue without risking alienation. While scholars have made substantial progress in using experimental methods to disentangle the ways religious cues influence political behavior, there is ample opportunity for more research exploring different types of religious cues and the way they interact with other forms of cues and identities. Furthermore, most of the research on religious cues has focused on Christian cues in the United States, and a more diverse range of religions and contexts should be explored to understand the way religious cues influence political behavior. Researchers should also expand the definition of “religious practitioners” to explore how religious cues influence the growing number of people who do not affiliate with a religion or engage in practices traditionally associated with religiosity but do identify as religious. This would help to expand conceptualization of political behavior to more accurately reflect lived political experiences. Embracing these opportunities will allow the scholarly community to gain a better understanding of the varied political dynamics of religious cueing, which offers insights into how fundamental identities and attitudes are linked, thereby shedding more light on the complex dynamics of political behavior.

The Mobilization of Campaign Activists By the Party Canvass

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER W. WIELHOUWER
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
The Political ◽  
Rational Choice Model ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Election Studies

This research examines the role of the personal contacting activities of the political parties as mobilizing forces in what Verba and Nie termed campaign activities. A reformulated rational choice model is discussed in which parties seek to reduce certain avoidable and unavoidable costs associated with political participation. Using data from the 1952 through 1994 American National Election Studies, it is shown that the party contact has been and continues to be a major factor in mobilizing campaign activists. Its influence is remarkably robust, maintaining statistical and substantive significance even after controlling for other important factors usually associated with political behavior.

scholarly journals SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO ASSESSING THE POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF YOUTH MOVEMENTS IN THE WEST IN 1960-1970: HISTORIOGRAPHY

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (43) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Fedorkov
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Psychology ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Activity ◽  
The West ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

The development of civil society in Ukraine requires an active political position on the part of all subjects of public relations; active creative and positive orientation of actions. The basis of this process is political activity and political participation. The problem of studying the political activity of young people - from 18 to 35 years old - is especially relevant. In this regard, it is important to highlight the socio-psychological factors of active political activity, and especially the individual psychological characteristics and psychological characteristics of the microenvironment. As an object of the article, the realities of the political and socio-cultural life of the West in the 1960s and 1970s, when these factors were manifested against the background of the general activity of the youth of the West, were summarized. It is the political activity and participation of young people in various movements and associations that have determined the configuration of political and social processes. Then came the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the USSR, and this story became a general activity of the world's youth, including the youth of Ukraine. Retrospection and historiography make it possible to assess the place of psychology, political psychology in the study of these processes. Psychological science has been enriched with such achievements that they can be used as an example of solving broader problems - as a study of the phenomenon of political and socio-cultural participation of young people in solving urgent everyday problems, especially in modern crises and challenges. Keywords: psychology, political psychology, political activity and political participation, the West in the 1960s and 1970s.

scholarly journals Ανιχνεύοντας το αξιακό υπόβαθρο της πολιτικής συμπεριφοράς

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Βασίλης Παυλόπουλος ◽  
Michele Vecchione
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Greek Society ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors ◽  
Political Right

individual differences in politics are usually studied through the bipolar “left/right” or “liberal/conservative” axis. Traditionally, political preferences are examined in relation to socio-demographic factors. More recently, personal values have been shown to constitute a useful framework for understanding political attitudes. This study attempted to explore emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of individual variation in political behavior on the basis of Schwartz’s value theory. The sample consisted of 304 adults (51% male), aged 21-65 years (M = 39,1), residing in various regions across Greece (55% in the Athens metropolitan area). Participants completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz et al., 2001); they also responded on items regarding their core political values (Schwartz et al., 2010), political self-placement, political participation, and socio-demographic profile. overall, results are consistent with research hypotheses. Personal values emerged as significant predictors of political values and political self-placement. Specifically, tradition, security and achievement were associated with the political right and universalism with the left, as well as with unconventional forms of political participation. The above findings are being discussed with regard to the existing models of values and political behavior, along with the multi-faceted crisis that the Greek society is undergoing.

The Chicken or Egg Question of Adolescents’ Political Involvement

2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Šerek ◽  
Hana Machackova ◽  
Petr Macek
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
The Political ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Longitudinal Effects

Abstract. Research on the political behavior of young people often approaches psychological factors such as political efficacy or interest as antecedents of political participation. This study examines whether efficacy and interest are also outcomes of participation and if this effect differs across three types of political participation. Data from a two-wave longitudinal survey of 768 Czech adolescents (aged 14–17 years at Time 1, 54% females) was used. Findings support the proposition that psychological factors are affected by participatory experiences. Cross-lagged models showed longitudinal effects from participation to changes in psychological factors, but not effects in the opposite direction. Protest participation predicted higher interest and internal political efficacy, but lower external political efficacy, volunteering predicted higher external political efficacy, and representational participation had no effects on psychological factors. Overall, our findings point out the formative role of participatory experiences in adolescence and the diverse effects of different types of political participation on political development.

Resisting Government Internet Surveillance by Participating in Politics Online and Offline

2011 ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian S. Krueger
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Behavior ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Government ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Using Data

While more is probably known about the causes of political participation than any other political behavior, the research program suffers in that it generally assumes citizens operate within an unproblematic surveillance context. This chapter argues that the growing use of the Internet for political participation and the government’s expanded electronic surveillance capacities make this assumption increasingly dubious. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s insights concerning surveillance and resistance, I develop empirical hypotheses related to surveillance and Internet political participation. Testing these hypotheses using data derived from a unique probability sample survey of U.S. Internet users, surveillance is shown to influence online political activity. Those who oppose the current administration, and who perceive the government monitors their Internet behavior, participate in politics online at the highest rates. Next, I test whether perceptions of online surveillance lead to a similar higher probability of conventional offline political activity. The results suggest that for those opposed to the regime’s policies, online surveillance increases the likelihood of engagement in offline political participation.

Patterns and Puzzles

2021 ◽  
pp. 44-80
Author(s):  
Carew Boulding ◽  
Claudio A. Holzner
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Vote Buying ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter describes in detail patterns of political participation in Latin America with a particular focus on the political activity of poor citizens. It also introduces the book’s measures of poverty and political participation and engages in some preliminary statistical analysis in order to rule out alternative explanations. We identify three important findings: first, the poorest individuals in Latin America now participate in politics at least as much as, if not more than, more affluent individuals; second, the relationship between wealth and political activism is not uniform across countries or acts: in some places poor people participate more than the affluent, in most countries there is no difference in overall levels of participation across social classes, and in a few countries political stratification by class continues; third, the chapter shows that poor people do vote and protest a bit less than more affluent people but contact government more. It is the frequency with which poor people contact government officials that accounts for much of the equality in political participation that the book identifies. The analysis finds little evidence that individual-level factors explain these patterns. Instead, poor individuals participate as much or more than more affluent individuals despite possessing lower levels of education, political interest, and wealth. The chapter also explores the effect that efforts at vote buying and clientelist mobilization have on poor people’s activism, showing that although clientelism is common, it not the only mechanism through which poor people are mobilized into politics.

scholarly journals Political Future of Migrants in Russia: Hypotheses and Models

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-414
Author(s):  
Leonid V. Savinov
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Migration Behavior ◽  
Level Of Involvement ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Migration Dynamics ◽  
Migration Factors

The political prospects of migrants in Russia are not only an urgent problem, but also require a comprehensive scientific analysis based on the achievements of modern political science. For this reason, the paper attempts to provide scientific and methodological justification and research on the participation of migrants in future political processes. Based on migration dynamics and features of migration behavior, a model-hypothesis - variants and scenarios of political participation of migrants in Russia has been developed. The model includes the following elements: personal and group strategies for the migration future; the trajectory and nature of political participation of migrants; ideological preferences and political attitudes; the content of the political culture of the migration community; the target expectations of migrants in the political sphere; the level of involvement of migrants in civil society institutions; the level of political activity of migrants and leaders of the migration community; the readiness of indigenous people to allow migrants to political processes; the position of the state and government institutions to political claims from migrants. Thus, based on the methodology of contextual instrumentalism, the methodological basis of the political forecast of the future of migrants in Russia is presented, taking into account the basic migration factors and trends, and the main directions of scientific search for ways to verify the formulated hypothesis are also identified.

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