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Supporting Democracy: Political Participation and Political Attitudes. Exploring Causality Using Panel Data

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  • Ellen Quintelier
  • Jan W. Deth

Abstract

type="main"> The relationship between political participation and political attitudes is at the heart of any discussion about fostering democratic engagement. However, many authors simply presume that political attitudes reinforce political behaviour. Using a three-wave panel data set with more than 3,000 adolescents, we show that political attitudes do not necessarily precede behaviour. On the contrary, focusing on the relationships between five political attitudes and two variants of political participation, our findings indicate that it is much more likely that political participation strengthens political attitudes than that attitudes trigger participation. This does not mean that attitudes are irrelevant for behaviour, but the reverse impact is much stronger. More specifically, we find that the effects of being politically engaged on political interest, efficacy, confidence and norms of citizenship are clearly stronger than the effects of these attitudes on participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ellen Quintelier & Jan W. Deth, 2014. "Supporting Democracy: Political Participation and Political Attitudes. Exploring Causality Using Panel Data," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 62, pages 153-171, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:62:y:2014:i::p:153-171
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1467-9248.12097
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer Oser, 2022. "How Citizenship Norms and Digital Media Use Affect Political Participation: A Two-Wave Panel Analysis," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 206-218.
    2. Henrik Serup Christensen, 2019. "Boosting Political Trust with Direct Democracy? The Case of the Finnish Citizens’ Initiative," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 173-186.
    3. Lorraine Ryan & Thomas Turner, 2021. "Does work socialisation matter? Worker engagement in political activities, attachment to democracy and openness to immigration," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 125-144, March.
    4. Vanda Carreira & João Reis Machado & Lia Vasconcelos, 2016. "Engaging Citizen Participation—A Result of Trusting Governmental Institutions and Politicians in the Portuguese Democracy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Marieke Voorpostel & Hilde Coffé, 2015. "The Effect of Parental Separation on Young Adults’ Political and Civic Participation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 295-316, October.
    6. Oldřich Šubrt, 2022. "Relationship of Work-Related Stress and Offline Social Leisure on Political Participation of Voters in the United States," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-35, May.

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