Understandings of Democracy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Lu ◽  
Yun-han Chu
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Demand Side ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Survey Instruments ◽  
Democratic Principles

While democracy is popular and still enjoys supremacy in contemporary political discourse with limited challenges from alternatives, it has also been acknowledged that democracy is in crisis. However, if most people love democracy and politicians have to live with democracy, how can democracy be in trouble? Understandings of Democracy examines this puzzling phenomenon, arguing that (1) people hold distinct understandings of democracy; (2) popular conceptions of democracy are significantly shaped by socioeconomic and political contexts; (3) such varying conceptions generate different baselines for people to assess democratic practices and to establish their views of democracy; and (4) such distinct conceptions also drive political participation in different ways. Overall, popular understandings of democracy have critically shaped how citizens respond to authoritarian or populist practices in contemporary politics. Using new survey instruments embedded in the Global Barometer Surveys (GBS), this book highlights the significance and essentialness of how people assess the tradeoffs between key democratic principles and instrumental gains when they conceptualize democracy for comparative research on popular understandings of democracy. Furthermore, weaving together GBS II survey data from seventy-two societies and survey experiments, this book scrutinizes some key micro-dynamics that drive people’s critical political attitudes and behaviors, which are centered on how people understand democracy in different ways. Overall, this book theorizes and demonstrates that, as a critical but underappreciated component of the demand-side dynamics, varying conceptions of democracy offer significant explanatory power for understanding why democracy is in trouble, even when most people profess to love democracy.

scholarly journals Who Votes More Strategically?

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 470-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW C. EGGERS ◽  
NICK VIVYAN
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Strategic Voting ◽  
Education Level ◽  
New Approach

Strategic voting is an important explanation for aggregate political phenomena, but we know little about how strategic voting varies across types of voters. Are richer voters more strategic than poorer voters? Does strategic behavior vary with age, education, gender, or political leaning? The answers may be important for assessing how well an electoral system represents different preferences in society. We introduce a new approach to measuring and comparing strategic voting across voters that can be broadly applied, given appropriate survey data. In recent British elections, we find that older voters vote more strategically than younger voters and that richer voters vote more strategically than poorer voters, even as strategic behavior varies little across the education level. The differences in strategic voting by age and income are smaller than observed differences in turnout by age and income, but they tend to exacerbate these better-known inequalities in political participation.

scholarly journals Reframing Aging in Contemporary Politics: Building Momentum

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 681-681
Author(s):  
Patricia D'Antonio
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Older People ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Perceptions Of Aging ◽  
The Many ◽  
Changing Attitudes

Abstract Changing American culture is challenging and changing attitudes and behaviors around the universal experience of aging especially so. Unless the field of advocates who care about aging issues cultivates a more visible, more informed conversation on older people, it will remain difficult to advance the systemic changes needed to adjust to a society with increased and increasing longevity. Advocates will need to be vigilant to avoid cueing negative attitudes towards aging and aging policies. The Reframing Aging Initiative is a long-term, social change endeavor designed to improve the public’s understanding of what aging means and the many contributions older people bring to society. Using evidence-based research, the initiative seeks to teach advocates how to tell an effective story about aging that will promote positive perceptions of aging and reduce ageism. The time to change the conversation is now.

Using qualitative methods in comparative research

2010 ◽  
pp. 65-79
Author(s):  
Rosaline S. Barbour
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
Survey Instruments ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Country Specific

Although quantitative and qualitative approaches are sometimes presented as being in opposition to each other, it is argued that they can, more usefully, be viewed as complementary. Qualitative work can make an important contribution both to pan-European and country-specific comparative research. Most studies have capitalized on qualitative methods at the outset of projects (principally for their ability to develop survey instruments) and, perhaps, less frequently, in order to enhance cultural sensitivity of such tools. However, more imaginative sequencing of methods can pay enormous dividends. Qualitative methods can also furnish hypotheses for investigation in quantitative phases of research studies, and can also be employed in order to better understand the mechanisms linking variables as identified by quantitative work. In particular, qualitative methods can be used to advantage in exploring surprising or anomalous findings. Stand-alone qualitative studies are also valuable, and can address comparison, since they can be harnessed to study change over time or, even, cross-country comparisons. If we are to realize the full potential of qualitative studies in comparative research, however, we need to pay attention to research design issues, seeking to be more imaginative in our sequencing of methods and appreciating the potential of purposive sampling to illuminate comparisons.

New Instruments for Popular Understandings of Democracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-46
Author(s):  
Jie Lu
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Instrument Selection ◽  
Methodological Foundation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Survey Instruments ◽  
Psychometric Models ◽  
New Instruments ◽  
Elusive Concept

This chapter reviews pertinent research on varying understandings of democracy to assess the empirical challenges in studying this elusive concept and to propose some new survey instruments (i.e., the PUD instruments) with theoretical justification. In particular, it emphasizes the embedded tensions and critical trade-offs as people view and assess democracy and brings such tensions and trade-offs to the center of instrument selection. The chapter further examines the validity and reliability of the PUD instruments using both survey experiments and different psychometric models to establish a solid methodological foundation for subsequent empirical analysis.

scholarly journals Populism, participation, and political equality

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Anduiza ◽  
Marc Guinjoan ◽  
Guillem Rico
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Online Participation ◽  
Socioeconomic Gaps ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article analyses the relationship between populist attitudes and political participation. We argue that populist attitudes can be a motivation for participation through their identity, emotional, and moral components, and that they have the potential to narrow socioeconomic gaps in participation. Using survey data from nine European countries, our results show that populist attitudes are positively related to expressive non-institutionalized modes of participation (petition signing, online participation and, in some contexts, demonstrating), but not to turnout. In addition, populist attitudes are found to reduce education-based gaps and even reverse income-based inequalities in political participation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Competition and supply chain integration: a taxonomy perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (5) ◽  
pp. 923-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Cao ◽  
Baofeng Huo ◽  
Yuan Li ◽  
Xiande Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
International Competition ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Competition ◽  
Management Area ◽  
Post Hoc

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competition on supply chain integration (SCI). Design/methodology/approach – Survey data from 617 manufacturers in China were used in this study. Taxonomy with cluster analysis was used to investigate the patterns of competition, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate the influence of these competition patterns on SCI. Findings – Seven competition patterns composed of local competition, international competition, and operational challenges were identified from the survey data. The ANOVA results showed that companies with different patterns achieved significantly different levels of SCI, indicating that higher levels of local competition, international competition, and operational challenges drove higher levels of SCI. Post hoc analyses revealed that international competition had stronger effects than local competition on SCI. Research limitations/implications – The data were collected from a single country, which may limit the generalization of the findings. The data were cross-sectional and thus lacked causal explanatory power. Practical implications – The findings provide suggestions for managers to use different configurations of SCI to adapt to different patterns of competition. Originality/value – This study makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it extends the research on the relationship between competition and cooperation to the supply chain management area. Second, it extends the concept of competition by incorporating not only competitive intensity, but also competitive scope and competitive capability. Third, the use of a configuration approach rather than a dimensional approach to investigate the effects of competition on SCI solves many methodological problems.

Crime Victimization and Political Participation

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
REGINA BATESON
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Exposure To Violence ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
Violent Crimes ◽  
The World

Crime victimization is an important cause of political participation. Analysis of survey data from five continents shows that individuals who report recent crime victimization participate in politics more than comparable nonvictims. Rather than becoming withdrawn or disempowered, crime victims tend to become more engaged in civic and political life. The effect of crime victimization is roughly equivalent to an additional five to ten years of education, meaning that crime victimization ranks among the most influential predictors of political participation. Prior research has shown that exposure to violence during some civil wars can result in increased political participation, but this article demonstrates that the effect of victimization extends to peacetime, to nonviolent as well as violent crimes, and across most of the world. At the same time, however, crime victimization is sometimes associated with dissatisfaction with democracy and support for authoritarianism, vigilantism, and harsh policing tactics, especially in Latin America.

From Concerned Shopper to Dutiful Citizen

2012 ◽  
Vol 644 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa R. Gotlieb ◽  
Chris Wells
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

Young citizens are increasingly seeking fulfillment in expressive modes of political participation, and scholars have begun to examine the implications of this trend for engagement in formal politics. While some argue that expressive practices are “crowding out” participation in more conventional civic activities, others more optimistically contend that they have expanded the political repertoires of young citizens, affording them with more opportunities to be engaged. The authors add clarity to this debate by specifying the conditions under which engagement in one particular form of expressive politics, political consumerism, is associated with conventional participation. An analysis of survey data shows that identification with other political consumers significantly enhances the relationship between political consumerism and traditional political engagement, particularly among younger generations of Americans. The authors argue that engaging in political consumerism alongside others provides an important opportunity for young citizens to develop the civic competencies necessary for engagement in the formal political sphere.

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