The Effect of the #MeToo Movement on Political Engagement and Ambition in 2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 926-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah J. Castle ◽  
Shannon Jenkins ◽  
Candice D. Ortbals ◽  
Lori Poloni-Staudinger ◽  
J. Cherie Strachan
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Primary Effect ◽  
The People ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Midterm Elections

Conventional wisdom holds that the #MeToo movement increased awareness of sexual harassment and drove sympathizers, particularly women, to increased participation in the 2018 midterm elections. In this paper, we assess whether #MeToo increased awareness of sexual harassment, as well as whether #MeToo increased self-reported interest in various forms of political participation. Using an original dataset from October 2018, we find that although the #MeToo movement increased awareness and concern about sexual harassment and sexual assault, it did not affect interest in political participation among most Americans. We also find that the people most likely to report being aware of and mobilized by the movement were Democrats, those with high levels of political interest, and those who have personally experienced sexual harassment in professional settings. Surprisingly, in most of our models, women were no more likely to report that #MeToo increased their interest in participating than men. The results suggest that the primary effect of #MeToo may have been increasing the salience of sexual harassment and interest in political participation in 2018 among those who possessed the resources to participate and who were ideologically predisposed to support the movement’s goals from the beginning.

scholarly journals Political engagement and turnout among same-sex couples in Western Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 205316802097695
Author(s):  
Stuart J. Turnbull-Dugarte ◽  
Joshua Townsley
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Social Stratum ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
And Bisexual

This paper presents and addresses a simple, yet overlooked, research question: is there a sexuality gap in political engagement and participation between sexual minority individuals and the heterosexual majority in Western Europe? To answer this question, we employ a recently applied method of identifying lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals using data on the gender composition of cohabiting partner households from the European Social Survey. Relying on a total sample of more than 110,000 individuals across 12 different countries with an identified sample of 1542 LGB individuals, we test the divergence in political interest and political participation, both electoral and non-electoral, between LGB and non-LGB individuals. The results of our empirical analyses conform with our expectations. Theorising that LGBs, as a marginalised social stratum, are incentivised to participate and ‘vote like their rights depended on it’, we find empirical evidence of a significant and positive ‘sexuality gap’ in levels of political interest, turnout and other forms of political participation in Western Europe over and above what can be determined by socio-economic determinants of political participation.

scholarly journals Whither slacktivism? Political engagement and social media use in the 2013 Czech Parliamentary elections

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Štětka ◽  
Jaromír Mazák
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Political Expression ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines the relationship between online political expression and offline forms of political participation in the context of the 2013 Czech Parliamentary elections. It draws on the rapidly growing but still very much inconclusive empirical evidence concerning the use of new media and social network sites in particular for electoral mobilization and social activism, and their impact on more traditional forms of civic and political engagement. The theoretical framework of the paper is inspired by the competing perspectives on the role of social media for democratic participation and civic engagement, the mobilization vs. normalization thesis, as well as by the popular concepts of clicktivism or slacktivism (Morozov, 2009), denouncing online activism for allegedly not being complemented by offline actions and having little or no impact on real-life political processes. With the intention to empirically contribute to these discussions, this study uses data from a cross-sectional survey on a representative sample of the Czech adult population (N=1,653) which was conducted directly following the 2013 Parliamentary elections. The study was driven by the main research question: Is there a link between online political expression during the election campaign and traditional forms of political participation among Czech Facebook users? Furthermore, the analysis examined the relationship between online political participation and a declared political interest, electoral participation and political news consumption. The results obtained from an ordinal logistic regression analysis confirm the existence of a significant positive relationship between the respondents’ level of campaign engagement on Facebook and their political interest, political information seeking as well as traditional (mainly offline) participation activities, including voting.

scholarly journals The Emotional Costs and Benefits of Politics: Implications for Adolescent Political Development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Oosterhoff ◽  
Lauren Alvis
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Emotional Experiences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Political Empowerment ◽  
Ecological Momentary

Political involvement is accompanied by a range of positive and negative emotional experiences, including stress, sadness, anger, regret, purpose, and empowerment. These experiences may be especially potent during adolescence when youth are forming political opinions and are becoming more integrated within the political system. Little research has examined adolescents’ political emotional experiences and how these experiences are connected with concordant and future political engagement. Using an ecological momentary assessment design, this study tested cross-sectional and longitudinal within-day associations between adolescents’ political emotional costs and benefits and political engagement. Participants (N=291, Mage=16.09) completed four assessments of political emotional experiences (stress/sadness, anger, regret, empowerment) and multiple forms of political engagement (intent to protest, intent to vote, political interest, political efficacy, political participation) across one day. Greater political empowerment was cross-sectionally associated with all forms of political engagement and longitudinally associated with greater next-moment intent to vote and protest, political interest, and political efficacy. Greater political anger was associated with greater cross-sectional political interest, political efficacy, and political participation, but lower next-moment political efficacy. Greater political regret was associated with lower cross-sectional political efficacy and political interest and greater political stress/sadness was associated with greater cross-sectional intent to vote. Findings emphasize the importance of empowerment for adolescent political engagement and demonstrate nuanced connections between adolescents’ and subsequent involvement.

The Politics of the Mundane

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
ROBERTO F. CARLOS
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Children Of Immigrants ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Immigrant Communities ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Political Inequality ◽  
Political Events

Extensive research on political participation suggests that parental resources strongly predict participation. Other research indicates that salient political events can push individuals to participate. I offer a novel explanation of how mundane household experiences translate to political engagement, even in settings where low participation levels are typically found, such as immigrant communities. I hypothesize that experiences requiring children of Latinx immigrants to take on “adult” responsibilities provide an environment where children learn the skills needed to overcome the costs associated with participation. I test this hypothesis using three datasets: a survey of Latinx students, a representative survey of young adults, and a 10-year longitudinal study. The analyses demonstrate that Latinx children of immigrants taking on adult responsibilities exhibit higher levels of political activity compared with those who do not. These findings provide new insights into how the cycle of generational political inequality is overcome in unexpected ways and places.

A Trump Effect? Women and the 2018 Midterm Elections

The Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Lawless ◽  
Richard L. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Candidate Emergence ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
Election Results ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Negative Feelings

Abstract From the moment Donald Trump took the oath of office, women’s political engagement skyrocketed. This groundswell of activism almost immediately led to widespread reporting that Trump’s victory was inspiring a large new crop of female candidates across the country. We rely on a May 2017 national survey of “potential candidates” and the 2018 midterm election results to assess whether this “Trump Effect” materialized. Our analysis uncovers some evidence for it. Democrats – especially women – held very negative feelings toward Trump, and those feelings generated heightened political interest and activity during the 2018 election cycle. That activism, however, was not accompanied by a broad scale surge in women’s interest in running for office. In fact, the overall gender gap in political ambition today is quite similar to the gap we’ve uncovered throughout the last 20 years. Notably, though, about one quarter of the Democratic women who expressed interest in running for office first started thinking about it only after Trump was elected. That relatively small group of newly interested candidates was sufficient to result in a record number of Democratic women seeking and winning election to Congress. With no commensurate increase in Republican women’s political engagement or candidate emergence, however, prospects for gender parity in US political institutions remain bleak.

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