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.

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.

Immigrants, Citizenship and Political Action in Europe

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aida Just ◽  
Christopher J. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Definition Of

Little is known about how immigrants participate in politics and whether they transform political engagement in contemporary democracies. This study investigates whether citizenship (as opposed to being foreign-born) affects political and civic engagement beyond the voting booth. It is argued that citizenship should be understood as a resource that enhances participation and helps immigrants overcome socialization experiences that are inauspicious for political engagement. The analysis of the European Social Survey data collected in nineteen European democracies in 2002–03 reveals that citizenship has a positive impact on political participation. Moreover, citizenship is a particularly powerful determinant of un-institutionalized political action among individuals who were socialized in less democratic countries. These findings have important implications for debates over the definition of and access to citizenship in contemporary democracies.

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.

scholarly journals Social and Psychological Factors of Political Participation according to Recent European Social Survey Data

Intersections ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslava Bozogáňová ◽  
Jozef Výrost
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Psychological Profile ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Survey Round ◽  
Psychological Features ◽  
Political Decisions

While people have an influence on current political decisions, and as ordinary citizens represent the basis for political participation, depicting such political engagement in an empirical/practical way creates a concerning amount of methodological questions. Data obtained via the European Social Survey Round 1–7 offers the opportunity to outline and broaden the picture in terms of the personal (demographic and psychological) features of individuals who participate in politics to a greater or lesser degree. Participants from the seven rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS) were divided into three groups: higher, medium, and lower political participation (α = 0.642). A Scale of Political Participation was created based on ‘yes’ answers. It was found that those individuals who were female or had a lower level of education participated less, while older people were more politically participative than younger people. The psychological profile of these groups differs in terms of preferred values: attitudes, satisfaction, trust in people, and institutions.

scholarly journals How the Internet has changed participation: Exploring distinctive preconditions of online activism

2021 ◽  
pp. 67-85
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Kopacheva
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Social Networking Services ◽  
Online Activism

The continuously growing number of people participating in Internet-based, online, political activism suggests that the latter has the potential to replace offline forms of unconventional political participation in the future. If that is the case, it is essential to understand the nature and objectives of such type of participation. This article addresses the question of distinctive preconditions of online activism. As a result of the mixed-effect logistic regression analysis of the European Social Survey data, it was found that online activism contrasts with other unconventional types of political participation in respect to the effect of social trust. It is suggested that the key differences between the preconditions of online and offline forms of participation may speak in favour of several phenomena. First of all, it is proposed that social networking services (SNSs) managed to create an illusion of directness of political participation. Secondly, new groups of people with the lower risk preferences may be recruited into online political action. Lastly, groups that do not believe in the effectiveness of political participation or that have other motives, such as a search for attention, may be more likely to participate online. The results call for further research on how SNSs reshape how people understand political engagement and how they want to be involved.

Status of same-sex partnerships in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
pp. 143-166
Author(s):  
MAKSYM KASIANZUK ◽  
SVIATOSLAV SHEREMET ◽  
OLESIA TROFYMENKO
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Bisexual Men ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Significant Similarity ◽  
Male Couples ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
And Bisexual

The proposed article aims to summarize available quantitative and qualitative data on same-sex partnerships in Ukraine, including data on the presence of children in such partnerships, over the last twenty years (1999–2018). The increasing number of publications on various aspects of the existence of same-sex couples in English demonstrates the relevance of the topic. The information available in Ukraine is the richest in comparison with other post-Soviet countries of the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. At the same time, LGBT families remain out of the academic community in Ukraine, and the data collected are mostly contained in the so-called "gray literature" (mainly research reports by public organizations), and are not introduced into scientific circulation. It is shown that, depending on the composition of the sample and the definition of same-sex partnership used by the researchers, this percentage most often falls within the range of 16–28% of surveyed homosexual and bisexual men residing in the capital and regional centers of Ukraine. Quantitative information on women partnerships is extremely limited (one survey of a small sample), and there is no quantitative data for the couples, where one or both partners are transgenders. Quantitative information on children in same-sex partnerships is also very limited, and the data in the literature (with all the methodological disadvantages indicated) ranges from 14% to 29% of LGB, which have children, but it is unknown whether these children were raised in same-sex couples. With regard to quality information, the situation is different — a little bit more is known about the status of women and partly transgender partnerships (including the issue of children in such families) than about male couples. Separate data demonstrates a significant similarity in the same-sex partnership structure to the typical heterosexual egalitarian family model (two partners and their children), taking into account more egalitarian marriage roles, lack of formal status, and associated socio-economic risks. Further research (including national level) should be based on a common understanding of what constitutes “same-sex partnership”, what are the characteristics of same-sex partnership (civil, family), what characteristics of civil partnership turn it into a“family”, etc.

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.

scholarly journals Unpaid Work and Care During COVID-19: Subjective Experiences of Same-Sex Couples and Single Mothers in Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243
Author(s):  
Lyn Craig ◽  
Brendan Churchill
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Subjective Reports ◽  
Paid And Unpaid Work

This paper draws on data from Work and Care During COVID-19, an online survey of Australians during pandemic lockdown in May 2020 (n = 2,722). It focuses on how subsamples of lesbian, gay, and bisexual mothers and fathers in couples (n = 280) and single mothers (n = 480) subjectively experienced unpaid work and care during lockdown compared with heterosexual mothers and fathers in couples, and with partnered mothers, respectively. During the pandemic, nonheterosexual fathers’ subjective reports were less negative than those of their heterosexual counterparts, but differences between heterosexual and lesbian/bisexual mothers were more mixed. Unlike their partnered counterparts, more single mothers reported feeling satisfied than before with their balance of paid and unpaid work and how they spent their time overall during the pandemic, perhaps because they avoided partnership conflicts and particularly benefited from relaxed commuting and child care deadlines.

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