POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: OPPORTUNITIES, COSTS, AND BENEFITS
All political and civic activities involve trade-offs between the cost of involvement and the perceived benefits.
Rational actor theory states that choices are based on our individual assessment of costs and benefits.
Those who enjoy the benefits from an activity without paying the costs of participation are known as free riders.
Free riders are a problem in societies that do not force people to participate in the political system in order to receive its benefits.
CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Not all forms of political participation are identical.
Different forms of political participation provide different amounts of information.
- Voting conveys very limited information.
- Working for a candidate, joining a political party, or contributing money to a campaign imparts more information than voting alone.
- Activities that impart more information may involve higher costs in terms of time or money.
Some forms of participation provide more frequent messages.
- Voting is low frequency; an individual can only vote once per election.
- Donations are high frequency; an individual can donate time or money more than once per campaign.
- The frequency and strength of a political message is strongly related to the amount of resources the sender possesses.
INGREDIENTS FOR INVOLVEMENT
Acts of political participation require the expenditure of resources such as time, money, or expertise.
The wealthy are more than twice as likely as those in low-income groups to participate in all forms of political activity.
Better-educated individuals are more likely to engage in electoral activities and community activities.
Religious institutions with open leadership positions often provide opportunities to learn civic skills.
Upper-income jobs provide more opportunities than low-skill jobs to develop resources that are useful for political life.
Political participation varies by ethnicity and gender.
- Whites participate in greater numbers than African Americans.
- Hispanics have lower participation rates than either whites or African Americans.
- African Americans and whites with similar levels of education vote at about the same rates.
- Women vote at higher rates than men.
- Men contribute more money to political campaigns and contact political leaders more often than women.
A psychological predisposition toward political involvement is called political engagement.
Political mobilization is the process of encouraging citizens to become politically involved.
- Direct mobilization involves contacting citizens personally to take part in political activities.
- In indirect mobilization, leaders use networks of friends and acquaintances to persuade others to participate.
Several factors affect political mobilization.
- Mobilization efforts are timed to enhance the success of the cause.
- Politicians target those they believe will respond positively to their message.
- The cost of the political action requested affects mobilization.
VOTING
Voter turnout increases directly with employment status and wealth, level of education, and age.
Average rates of voter turnout in the United States compare unfavorably to rates in other democracies.
Voter turnout and interest is especially low among young people.
Several factors account for low voter turnout:
- Difficulty of voter registration
- Timing and scheduling of elections
- Two-party-system depression of voting interest among lower-income groups
- The great number and frequency of elections in the United States
- Noncompetitive political races
OTHER TYPES OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY
Americans show greater levels of participation in more time-consuming political activities such as campaign work or contact with public officials.
The affluent are more likely to write letters, volunteer on campaigns, contact elected officials, and work on solving community problems.
Modern politicians and activists increasingly rely on financial support as a form of participation.
Some scholars worry that "checkbook democracy" depresses voter interest and shuts the less affluent out of the political process.
Average citizens are using consumer activism to make political or social statements with their buying power.
THE IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION PATTERNS ON POLICY
Voting data indicate that the attitudes and preferences of voters and nonvoters are substantially similar.
Wealthier citizens are three times more likely as the disadvantaged to contact elected officials.
Political leaders are thus more likely to hear about the concerns of the wealthy such as taxes, government spending, and the budget.
