Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political ActivismConventional wisdom suggests that citizens in many countries have become disengaged from the traditional channels of political participation. Commentators highlight warning signs including sagging electoral turnout, rising anti-party sentiment, and the decay of civic organizations. But are these concerns justified? This book compares systematic evidence for electoral turnout, party membership, and civic activism in countries around the world and suggests good reasons to question assumptions of decline. Not only is the obituary for older forms of political activism premature, but new forms of civic engagement may have emerged in modern societies to supplement traditional modes. The process of societal modernization and rising levels of human capital are primarily responsible, although participation is also explained by the structure of the state, the role of agencies, and social inequalities. |
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Contents
The Decline and Fall of Political Activism? | 3 |
Theories of Political Activism | 19 |
Mapping Turnout | 35 |
Do Institutions Matter? | 58 |
Who Votes? | 83 |
Mapping Party Activism | 103 |
Who Joins? | 119 |
Social Capital and Civic Society | 137 |
Traditional Mobilizing Agencies Unions and Churches | 168 |
New Social Movements Protest Politics and the Internet | 188 |
Conclusions The Reinvention of Political Activism? | 215 |
Comparative Framework | 225 |
Notes | 231 |
267 | |
282 | |
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Common terms and phrases
activists Africa American Political Science analysis Asia-Pacific C&E Europe Cambridge University Press campaign church citizens civic activism civic engagement civic society Comparative comparison compulsory voting countries cross-national cultural decline electoral participation electoral system electoral turnout environmental erosion established democracies evidence Freedom House gender Global human development Human Development Index impact important institutions Journal of Political measured Medium mobilizing agencies models national elections newer democracies older democracies Oxford University Press parliamentary party membership party organizations Party Systems patterns percent Pippa Norris political participation Political Parties postindustrial societies presidential proportion protest activism protest politics religious representative democracy Robert Putnam role Ronald Inglehart secular Sidney Verba social capital social movements social trust structure suggest survey Table theories tions trade unions traditional trends Turnout from 1945 union density union membership voluntary associations Vote/VAP voter turnout voting-age population Western Europe World Values Study World Values Survey York