Weapon of the Strong? Participatory Inequality and the Internet

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Lehman Schlozman ◽  
Sidney Verba ◽  
Henry E. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Recruitment ◽  
Participatory Inequality

This chapter looks at the potentially democratizing impact of the Internet on political participation, and asks both individuals and organizations the same kinds of questions already posed earlier regarding whether processes of political recruitment can alter familiar participatory patterns. If the Internet is bringing new people and new organizations into politics, the chapter considers if it is bringing new kinds of people and new kinds of interests into political activity. Furthermore, even if the Internet is effective in generating additional political activity, the chapter considers if this new activity is simply replicating the same participatory inequalities that have emerged over and over in this volume.

Resisting Government Internet Surveillance by Participating in Politics Online and Offline

2011 ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian S. Krueger
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Behavior ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Government ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Using Data

While more is probably known about the causes of political participation than any other political behavior, the research program suffers in that it generally assumes citizens operate within an unproblematic surveillance context. This chapter argues that the growing use of the Internet for political participation and the government’s expanded electronic surveillance capacities make this assumption increasingly dubious. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s insights concerning surveillance and resistance, I develop empirical hypotheses related to surveillance and Internet political participation. Testing these hypotheses using data derived from a unique probability sample survey of U.S. Internet users, surveillance is shown to influence online political activity. Those who oppose the current administration, and who perceive the government monitors their Internet behavior, participate in politics online at the highest rates. Next, I test whether perceptions of online surveillance lead to a similar higher probability of conventional offline political activity. The results suggest that for those opposed to the regime’s policies, online surveillance increases the likelihood of engagement in offline political participation.

Weapon of the Strong? Participatory Inequality and the Internet

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Lehman Schlozman ◽  
Sidney Verba ◽  
Henry E. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Electronic Technologies ◽  
Politically Active ◽  
The Web ◽  
Participatory Inequality

What is the impact of the possibility of political participation on the Internet on long-standing patterns of participatory inequality in American politics? An August 2008 representative survey of Americans conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project provides little evidence that there has been any change in the extent to which political participation is stratified by socio-economic status, but it suggests that the web has ameliorated the well-known participatory deficit among those who have just joined the electorate. Even when only that subset of the population with Internet access is considered, participatory acts such as contributing to candidates, contacting officials, signing a political petition, or communicating with political groups are as stratified socio-economically when done on the web as when done offline. The story is different for stratification by age where historically younger people have been less engaged than older people in most forms of political participation. Young adults are much more likely than their elders to be comfortable with electronic technologies and to use the Internet, but among Internet users, the young are not especially politically active. How these trends play out in the future depends on what happens to the current Web-savvy younger generation and the cohorts that follow and on the rapidly developing political capacities of the Web. Stay logged on …

scholarly journals The Internet, social networking Web sites and political participation research: Assumptions and contradictory evidence

First Monday ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isidoropaolo Casteltrione
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Impact

Over the last decade there has been a proliferation of academic studies addressing the relationship between the Internet and politics, with an increasing number of publications focusing on the impact of such a medium on political participation. Within this specific sub-field research has produced contrasting evidence and generated an intense academic debate. Some scholars stressed the positive impact of the Internet on political participation (i.e., optimists), while others minimised its mobilising power, emphasising its tendency to reinforce existing participatory trends (i.e., normalisers) or highlighting its limited or even negative influence on political participation (i.e., pessimists). Similar findings also emerged in relation to social networking Web sites (SNSs), digital platforms that have been the subject of much research in recent years. This paper discusses how two assumptions characterising many studies focusing on the Internet, SNSs and political participation have contributed to the contradictory findings produced by optimists, pessimists and normalisers. The first assumption is the consideration of political participation as an activity aimed exclusively at affecting governments’ actions, either directly or indirectly. This conceptualisation has arguably prevented scholars from grasping the multidimensional nature of political participation and from assessing how the influence of the Internet on this phenomenon can vary according to the different types of political activity. The second assumption is the perception of the Internet as a homogeneous platform and an over-generalised notion of Internet usage. This, in turn, has led researchers to concentrate on the online/off-line distinction and to overlook the impact of different digital tools and various usage practices. This paper argues for a shift in the ways political participation, Internet and SNSs usage are conceptualised and operationalised in academia. It suggests moving away from the polarised debate between optimists, pessimists and normalisers, and adopting a more differential approach through which examining the effects of digital technologies on political participation.

Who Speaks? Citizen Political Voice on the Internet Commons

Daedalus ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Lehman Schlozman ◽  
Sidney Verba ◽  
Henry E. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Electronic Technologies ◽  
Politically Active ◽  
The Web ◽  
Participatory Inequality

Using an August 2008 representative survey of Americans conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, we investigate the consequences of Internet-based political activity for long-standing patterns of participatory inequality. There is little evidence of change in the extent to which political participation is stratified by socioeconomic status, even when we account for the fact that the well educated and affluent are more likely to be Internet users. However, because young adults are much more likely than their elders to be comfortable with electronic technologies and to use the Internet, the Web has ameliorated the well-known participatory deficit among those who have recently joined the electorate. Still, among Internet users, the young are not especially politically active. How these trends play out in the future depends on what happens to the current Web-savvy younger generation and the cohorts that follow as well as on the rapidly developing political capacities of the Web.

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.

Unraveling the Effects of the Internet on Political Participation?

2003 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline J. Tolbert ◽  
Ramona S. McNeal
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
The Internet

VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CIVIL-POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF YOUNG RUSSIAN PATRIOTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-70
Author(s):  
ANTONINA SELEZNEVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Values ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Patriotic Education ◽  
High Level

Purpose of the study. The article is devoted to the analysis of value orientations, forms of civic engagement and political participation of young Russian citizens who consider themselves patriots. In accordance with the conceptual and methodological provisions developed within the framework of the political and psychological approach, the author examines how the cognitive and behavioral components of the personality structure, which determine the patriotic orientation of youth, relate to each other. Research results. Based on an analysis of the data of an all-Russian survey of young people aged 15 to 30, the author comes to the conclusion that young Russian patriots are interested in politics and identify with Russia. They demonstrate a fairly high level of social activity and have a wide repertoire of forms of civic participation and political behavior. They have attitudes towards conventional forms of political participation (primarily electoral). In the system of values of young patriots, the most significant are human rights, peace, order, legality, security, freedom and justice. Young Russian citizens who consider themselves patriots differ in their political values and behavioral orientations from «non-patriots». The author comes to the conclusion that young patriots have a connection between values and behavioral practices of their implementation, which determines their focus on interaction with the state and society. But this is not typical for young people in general. It is noted that in the future, patriotism can become a factor in the serious intragenerational demarcation of young people. Therefore, significant efforts are required from various institutions of socialization in the field of political education and patriotic education of youth.

The Internet, Political Participation and Election Turnout: A Case Study of Germany's www.abgeordnetenwatch.de

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartwig Pautz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Political Decision Making

Germany's parliamentary democracy appears to be in crisis. The major parties' membership is in decline and barely existing in East Germany, election turnout is decreasing at all levels, and the reputation of politicians has never been worse. At the same time, however, Germans are more interested in politics than in the 1990s, overwhelmingly support democracy, and are keen on participating particularly in local political decision making. Out of this situation emerged www.abgeordnetenwatch.de— a website that aims to re-establish the link between electors and elected by allowing voters and representatives to communicate via a publicly accessible question-andanswer structure. This article addresses the questions of whether such an instrument can revitalize representative democracy and whether it has done so in the context of the 2009 federal elections.

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