scholarly journals Examining political participation in Lithuania: The direct and mediated effects of social trust

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-71
Author(s):  
Teodora Gaidytė ◽  
Jasper Muis
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
Core Element ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Mediated Effects ◽  
The Social

This article investigates the effects of social trust, both direct and mediated – via internal and external efficacy – on different forms of political participation in post-communist Lithuania. The relationship between social trust and participation features prominently in the social capital and civic culture literature, but little empirical evidence exists that supports it, especially in post-communist democracies. We use the Lithuanian National Elections Study 2012 to test our hypotheses and replicate our analysis with the European Social Survey waves of 2014 and 2016. Our results show that social trust increases turnout, because it is related to a sense of external efficacy, which in turn enhances the likelihood that people vote. There is, however, no association between social trust and being involved in other institutionalised politics, namely, working for a political party. Interestingly, we find a positive indirect effect for non-institutionalised political participation: social trust increases external efficacy, which in turn enhances protest behaviour. Overall, however, social trust does not lead to more protesting, because the former is at the same time positively related to political trust, which seems to decrease, rather than increase non-institutionalised participation. In sum, our findings demonstrate that explanations for political participation based on the core element of social capital – social trust – work out differently for different forms of political participation.

Is It Time to Disinvest in Social Capital?

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Foley ◽  
Bob Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
The Many

In an effort at theoretical clarification, the authors reviewed 45 recent articles reporting empirical research employing the concept of ‘social capital’. The literature is roughly equally divided between those who treat social capital as an independent variable and those who consider it as a dependent variable, and between those who operationalize the concept principally in terms of norms, values and attitudes and those who choose a more social structural operationalization, invoking social networks, organizations and linkages. Work on social capital as a mainly normative variable is dominated by political scientists and economists, while sociologists and a wide range of applied social scientists utilize more social structural understandings of the term. We find little to recommend in the use of ‘social capital’ to represent the norms, values and attitudes of the civic culture argument. We present empirical, methodological and theoretical arguments for the irrelevance of ‘generalized social trust’, in particular, as a significant factor in the health of democracies or economic development. Social structural interpretations of social capital, on the other hand, have demonstrated considerable capacity to draw attention to, and illuminate, the many ways in which social resources are made available to individuals and groups for individual or group benefit, which we take to be the prime focus and central attraction of the social capital concept. The paper concludes by elaborating a context-dependent conceptualization of social capital as access plus resources, and cautions against ‘over-networked’ conceptualizations that equate social capital with access alone.

Social Capital and the Development of Political Support in Europe

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Hooghe ◽  
Anna Kern
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The One ◽  
Democratic Norms

This chapter evaluates the claim that the decline of legitimacy is due to a decline of social capital. The idea that voluntary associations play an important role in establishing social cohesion and political support is a traditional insight in the field of political sociology. The basic assumption is that voluntary associations function as a training ground for democracy, where citizens involved acquire democratic norms and skills that they subsequently apply in their relation with the political system. If this argument is correct, political support should be at least partly influenced by citizens’ participation in civil society organizations. Using European Social Survey data from 2006 and 2012 the authors demonstrate that there is a clear and significant correlation between social involvement on the one hand and satisfaction with the working of democracy and political trust on the other, which largely survives the introduction of a range of control variables.

scholarly journals The Perceived Impact of Social Networking Sites and Apps on the Social Capital of Saudi Postgraduate Students: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Abdulelah A. Alghamdi ◽  
Margaret Plunkett
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

With the increased use of Social Networking Sites and Apps (SNSAs) in Saudi Arabia, it is important to consider the impact of this on the social lives of tertiary students, who are heavy users of such technology. A mixed methods study exploring the effect of SNSAs use on the social capital of Saudi postgraduate students was conducted using a multidimensional construct of social capital, which included the components of life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation, and political engagement. Data were collected through surveys and interviews involving 313 male and 293 female postgraduate students from Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. Findings show that male and female participants perceived SNSAs use impacting all components of social capital at a moderate and mainly positive level. Correlational analysis demonstrated medium to large positive correlations among components of social capital. Gender differences were not evident in the life satisfaction and social trust components; however, females reported more involvement with SNSAs for the purposes of political engagement while males reported more use for civic participation, which is an interesting finding, in light of the norms and traditional culture of Saudi society.

Social capital and the learning organization

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-219
Author(s):  
Wan Idros Wan Sulaiman ◽  
Maizatul Haizan Mahbob ◽  
Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Learning Organization ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pearson Correlation Test

Department of Information of Malaysia is one of the public organizations directly involved in the provision of information to the public. To ensure that all services rendered acceptable, organizational communication in the Department of Information should be given serious consideration so that each activity can be transformed properly. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess organizational communication in a learning organization in order to see the extent to which employees have a description of social capital and support to the organization of learning activities. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship that is formed through the social interactions between workers and management by integrating the four aspects of social capital, namely social trust, institutional trust, social norms and networking. For this purpose, a total of 190 respondents from the Information Department headquarters staff in Putrajaya was selected for this study. The study uses questionnaires as research tool and analyses key findings using the Pearson correlation test to examine relationships between various aspects. The study also applied social capital theory as the basis of research framework the when analyzing findings. The results showed that staff describe positive social capital within the organization and consider organizational learning as a strategy to improve the performance of the department in the future.

The Social Capital among Elderly Population of Chandigarh: Cross Sectional Study

Healthline ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Kiranjit Kaur ◽  
Naveen Krishan Goel ◽  
Manoj Kumar Sharma ◽  
Navpreet Singh ◽  
Mamta Bishnoi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Elderly Population ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Female Ratio ◽  
The Social ◽  
Male Female Ratio ◽  
The Status

Introduction: Social capital is defined as social cohesion among communities. This refers to processes between people which establish network, social trust and co-operation and mutual benefit. The present study was conducted to know the status of social capital among elderly population of Chandigarh city, India. Methods: The study was conducted from January to April 2017. The study was community based using convenience sampling. A total of 300 elderly subjects were selected for interview from the electoral rolls. The survey instrument was modified Onyx and Bullen scale consisting of 30 items with responses on likert scale from 1-4. Results: Mean age of respondents was 66.47 years. Male: Female ratio was 1.4:1. 45.7% owned their residence whereas 54.3% lived as tenants. Social capital score of majorities of elderly was good (63.7%) followed by average (19.3%).Highest mean scores were received for questions namely: would you help someone if their vehicle breaks down (3.03±0.69), do you agree to helping yourself when you help others (3.15±0.78) and have you visited your neighborhood in the past week (3.01±0.82). Poorest scorewere received for questions: while on shopping, are likely to run into friends (1.11±0.53) and have you done a favor for a sick neighbor in last 6 months (1.33±0.53). Conclusion: Social capital status among elderly of Chandigarh city was good andhigher scores were seenamong males. Highest mean scores were seen in factor 4 (proactivity in social context) and lowest among family and factor 5 (friend’s connections).

scholarly journals All for All: Equality, Corruption, and Social Trust

2005 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Rothstein ◽  
Eric M. Uslaner
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Equality Of Opportunity ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Economic Equality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Government

The importance of social trust has become widely accepted in the social sciences. A number of explanations have been put forward for the stark variation in social trust among countries. Among these, participation in voluntary associations received most attention. Yet there is scant evidence that participation can lead to trust. In this article, the authors examine a variable that has not gotten the attention it deserves in the discussion about the sources of generalized trust, namely, equality. They conceptualize equality along two dimensions: economic equality and equality of opportunity. The omission of both these dimensions of equality in the social capital literature is peculiar for several reasons. First, it is obvious that the countries that score highest on social trust also rank highest on economic equality, namely, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, and Canada. Second, these countries have put a lot of effort in creating equality of opportunity, not least in regard to their policies for public education, health care, labor market opportunities, and (more recently) gender equality. The argument for increasing social trust by reducing inequality has largely been ignored in the policy debates about social trust. Social capital research has to a large extent been used by several governments and policy organizations to send a message to people that the bad things in their society are caused by too little volunteering. The policy implications that follow from the authors' research is that the low levels of trust and social capital that plague many countries are caused by too little government action to reduce inequality. However, many countries with low levels of social trust and social capital may be stuck in what is known as a social trap. The logic of such a situation is the following. Social trust will not increase because massive social inequality prevails, but the public policies that could remedy this situation cannot be established precisely because there is a genuine lack of trust. This lack of trust concerns both “other people” and the government institutions that are needed to implement universal policies.

scholarly journals Kapitał i zaufanie społeczne a aktywność obywatelska w Anglii i Polsce – implikacje dla edukacji obywatelskiej

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-109
Author(s):  
Daria Hejwosz-Gromkowska
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Adam Mickiewicz

Hejwosz-Gromkowska Daria, Kapitał i zaufanie społeczne a aktywność obywatelska w Anglii i Polsce – implikacje dla edukacji obywatelskiej [Capital and Social Trust vs. Active Citizenship in England and Poland – Implications for Civic Education]. Studia Edukacyjne nr 56, 2020, Poznań 2020, pp. 85-109. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 1233-6688. DOI: 10.14746/se.2020.56.5The aim of the paper is to analyze the tendencies of shaping both social capital and social trust in England and Poland. The analyses of aforementioned categories allow to explain the patterns of conventional civic participation. The social capital and social trust are also important factors influencing citizenship education. Therefore, analysis comprises policies towards citizenship education in English and Polish schools.

scholarly journals Relationship between trust in the police and the effectiveness of the police

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (6. ksz.) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Vince Vári
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Organizational Effectiveness ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Trust Factors

In recent decades, a number of studies have appeared, mainly in the Western European police literature, which have examined the role of the police in society, the social utility of their operations and the social trust factors achieved throug the effectiveness of their procedures. These studies have revealed a number of factors which, although indirect, can be measured and understood. Nevertheless, they have hitherto been treated as abstract concepts in scientific approaches. These include the legality, legitimacy and fairness of police actions and procedures. In this study, I will show that the police can have a significant impact on social capital if they focus on these factors. In particular, it can improve that by focusing on aspects of procedural justice in measuring organizational effectiveness. However, the malleability of trust is questionable in a society where the overall level of trust is already low.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document