Explaining Political Knowledge: The Role of Procedural Quality in an Informed Citizenry

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Clark
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
The Political ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
Informed Citizenry ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
Knowledge Seeking

While much is known about the micro-level predictors of political knowledge, there have been relatively few efforts to study the potential macro-level causes of knowledge. Seeking to improve our understanding of country-based variation in knowledge, this article demonstrates that individuals have an easier time finding and interpreting information in political environments that provide the public with greater opportunities to engage, observe, and learn about the political process. To investigate that possibility, the article analyzes how the procedural quality of the political process affects political knowledge. Using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the Worldwide Governance Indicators Project, survey analyses show that the transparency and responsiveness of a political system indeed influence the public’s information about political parties and, to a lesser extent, the amount of factual knowledge retained by survey respondents. In other words, the quality of democratic governance affects how much individuals know about the political process.

Institutions and Political Support

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Political Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Expectation ◽  
Using Data

This chapter analyzes to what extent variation in political institutions affects political support. The chapter observes that the existing research is not always clear on which institutions should produce what kind of effect, although a general expectation is that institutional arrangements improve political support when they give citizens an increased sense of connection to the political process. In general then, we should expect institutions that strengthen the quality of representation to strengthen political support. This general expectation is specified in six hypotheses that are tested using data from the ESS 2012. The chapter demonstrates that electoral systems that provide voters with more choice about candidates, multiparty governments, and “responsive” legislatures, correlate positively with political support. However, compared to other macro-level factors and individual characteristics, the effects of political institutions on political support are modest. The chapter concludes that the prospects for institutional reform to strengthen political support are limited.

scholarly journals The Political Knowledge of University Students (A Comparative Study between Jordan and Libya)

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Alfeetouri Salih Mohammed Alsati ◽  
Al-Sayed Abd ulmutallab Ghanem
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University

The current research aims at identifying and measuring the political knowledge of the students of the two universities of Al- Balqaa in Jordan and Omar Al- Mokhtar in Libya. The two communities are almost similar in terms of the social formation, Arab customs and traditions, the Bedouin values, the difference in the institutional age and the political stability.The study attempts to measure and compare the political knowledge in the communities of the two universities using the descriptive and comparative analytical method. The study uses a 400 random questionnaire of 30 paragraphs to measure eight indicators divided into internal and external political knowledge, and other aspects of knowledge: general political knowledge, knowledge of the political institutions and leaders, the political interest, the geographical and historical knowledge, and knowledge of the methods of exercising the political process. The study also attempts to identifying the most important sources and the role of the university in university students’ political knowledge.The results show that the level of the political knowledge is medium while its level in the sample of the Jordanian students is high. According to the samples, the internal political knowledge is more than the external knowledge with a lack of interest in the political matters. The samples do not consider the political matters as their priorities. The political knowledge as a whole needs to much effort to be exerted to confront the current circumstances. The variables of the place of resident, age and the educational level make big difference in the political knowledge. In contrast, the level of the parental education does not create big differences.

A Reassessment of Conventional Wisdom About the Informed Public: National Political Information in Ghana

1976 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred M. Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Political Information ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Informed Citizenry ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Different Levels

This study examines the extent, impact and implications of political information in Ghana using survey data. A major interest is to identify and examine variables which influence level of information and to look at the consequences for the political process of different levels of political information. I examine conventional wisdom concerning the ignorance of the masses about national politics and call into question some common assumptions. Many of the differences usually assumed between developed and underdeveloped nations are found either not to exist or to be smaller than hypothesized. The data suggest that in some areas of national political information the masses in non-modernized societies are more politically aware than their counterparts in modernized societies. It is also suggested that there is no necessary link between education (literacy) and political information and that there are a number of functional equivalents to formal education. In the last section of the study several propositions about the informed citizenry are discussed.

The European Dimension of Minority Political Representation

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Spirova ◽  
Boyka Stefanova
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Process ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Political ◽  
East European ◽  
European Dimension ◽  
Challenging Tasks ◽  
The Eu

The political integration of ethnic minorities is one of the most challenging tasks facing the countries of post-communist Europe. The roads to their political representation in the mainstream political process are numerous and diverse. The EU accession of the Central and East European countries has expanded the scope of the political participation of minorities by adding an electoral process at the regional level: the elections for members of the European Parliament. This article presents a comparative study of the ways in which EU-level electoral processes affect the scope and quality of minority representation on the example of the participation of ethnic political parties in Bulgaria and Romania in the 2007 and 2009 electoral cycles of the European Parliament.

Does Studying Politics Make a Difference? The Political Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of School Students

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Denver ◽  
Gordon Hands
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Political Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
School Students ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Media ◽  
General Studies ◽  
Perceptions Of School

There has been considerable debate in recent years about the effects of the teaching of Politics upon levels of ‘political literacy’ – the knowledge and understanding of the political process and political issues which enables people to perform their roles as citizens effectively. Almost everyone receives some form of political education. For most people, however, the process of political education is informal: political knowledge, as well as opinions and attitudes, is picked up from the family, friends and the media. Informal political education also takes place in schools. In primary schools, children acquire elementary information about the political system, parties, leaders and so on. In secondary schools, subjects such as History and Geography and courses in General Studies frequently involve topics that are relevant to politics.

MASS MEDIA IN THE SYSTEM OF FORMATION OF POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE AND YOUTH ORIENTATION IN THE CONDITIONS OF MEDIATIZATION OF THE SOCIETY

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 95-99
Author(s):  
Бударина ◽  
Kseniya Budarina
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject

The article examines the media´s ability to influence the process of forming political and civic culture of Russian youth. The author revealed the essence of the institute of the media and identified the main functional characteristics of the subject of the political process. The transformation of political values of the Russian youth is substantiated, as well as the instability of its political views in terms of mediatization and development of social media is considered. The priority of media activities is specified that affects the formation of political knowledge and attitudes of young people.

High-Profile Female Executive Candidates and the Political Engagement of Women

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Carreras
Keyword(s):  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Executive Leaders ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Executive Politics ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
Mass Level

The number of salient female executive leaders has dramatically increased over the last two decades. In many countries, executive politics is no longer an exclusive male domain. Using data from the four waves of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems surveys and from several waves of the AmericasBarometer surveys, I investigate whether the presence of salient female executive candidates in high-profile national elections influences women’s political engagement in the electoral process. The analysis reveals that the presence of viable female candidates has no immediate impact on women’s political engagement at the mass level.

Lottocratic Institutions from a Participatory Perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 138-160
Author(s):  
Cristina Lafont
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
High Road ◽  
Political Decisions

This chapter explores how we might institutionalize deliberative minipublics in order to serve genuinely democratic goals. In contrast to empowered uses of minipublics that would bypass the citizenry’s political deliberation, citizens could use minipublics for contestatory, vigilant, and anticipatory purposes. These uses of minipublics would improve the quality of deliberation in the public sphere and would also force the political system to take the high road of properly involving the citizenry in the political process. The chapter illustrates these potential forms of “deliberative activism” with the help of examples of actual deliberative polls that James Fishkin has conducted over several decades. This analysis shows how deliberative minipublics can help improve the democratic quality of political deliberation in the public sphere while strengthening citizens’ democratic control over political decisions.

Japanese Political Studies in China: Progress, Problems and Prospects

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-354
Author(s):  
DINGPING GUO
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Studies ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Bubble Economy ◽  
Chinese Scholars ◽  
Pluralist Approach

AbstractThe quantity and quality of Japanese political studies in China are influenced by political developments in China and Japan, Sino-Japanese relations, and academic development of political science. After the collapse of Japan's bubble economy and the end of the LDP's long rule in the early 1990s, many Chinese scholars diverted their attention from economic issues and took more interest in Japanese political studies. Political issues such as the resurgence of nationalism, the rise of right-wing forces, the end of the ‘1955 system’, the political origin of long and heavy recessions, the ‘normal state’, national strategy, and foreign policies have been discussed and debated. New approaches and perspectives such as the political pluralist approach, the new institutional approach, the ecological approach and the political process approach have been used. It is imperative to overcome the institutional, political, and financial problems in order to improve the state and raise the quality of Japanese political studies in China.

Improving Political Education in the Schools

1981 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Mary A. Hopburn
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Political Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
College Courses ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Incoming Freshmen ◽  
Introductory College

National surveys of the political knowledge and attitudes of young Americans conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress document broad deficiencies in political education in the schools (NAEP, 1973; 1976). Political science professors who teach introductory college courses can attest to these shortcomings in the political knowledge and skills of many incoming freshmen. The main response of the political science profession has been to attempt to improve the quality of the content of civics, government, or citizenship courses by developing improved curriculum materials. Two major federally-supported, APSA-sponsored curriculum projects in the 1970s produced quality textbooks for high schools and instructional guides for middle schools (See APSA, DEA News Supplement, Spring 1974; and DEA News Supplement, Winter 1976).

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