Apathy And Participation

This inclusive study examines the extraordinarily high rates of political nonparticipation in the United States and the political, historical, institutional, and philosophical roots of such widespread apathy. To explain why individuals become committed to political apathy as a political role, Tom DeLuca begins by defining "the two faces of political apathy." The first, rooted in free will, properly places responsibility for nonparticipation in the political process on individuals. Political scientists and journalists, however, too often overlook a second, more insidious face of apathy--a condition created by institutional practices and social and cultural structures that limit participation and political awareness. The public blames our most disenfranchised citizens for their own disenfranchisement. Apathetic citizens blame themselves. DeLuca examines classic and representative explanations of non-participation by political analysts across a range of methodologies and schools of thought. Focusing on their views on the concepts of political power and political participation, he assesses current proposals for reform. He argues that overcoming the second face of apathy requires a strategy of "real political equality," which includes greater equality in the availability of political resources, in setting the political agenda, in clarifying political issues, and in developing a public sphere for more genuine democratic politics. Author note: Tom DeLuca is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Fordham College at Lincoln Center. He has been a long-time activist on local and national issues, especially nuclear arms control, and his op-ed pieces on politics have appeared in The New York Times, New York Newsday, The Nation, and The Progressive.

This book examines how young people understand and live politics, using innovative research methods. It treats age, class, gender and ethnicity as political 'lived experiences'. It concludes that young people are alienated, rather than apathetic, and that their interests and concerns are rarely addressed within mainstream political institutions.

One of the most influential works on political sociology ever written, this book explores the relationship between social structure and political behavior. Lipset's insights into the factors that shape political culture and ideology are as relevant today as when the book was first published. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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Academic Paper from the year 2021 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 4.5, course: African Electoral Democracy, language: English, abstract: This research examines the impact of political apathy on electoral participation in Nigeria and South-Africa in the 2019 general elections in both countries. The objectives are to determine the causes of political apathy in the electoral participation of citizens of Nigeria and South-Africa in their 2019 general elections and to examine the impact of political apathy on the electoral process in both countries. Furthermore the author determines the trend of political apathy (voter turnout) in the general elections in Nigeria and South-Africa from 1999 to 2019, and from 1994 to 2019 respectively. The necessity of this research was borne out of the need to address the increasing rate of political apathy especially voter turnout in both democratic nations. Political participation (voter turnout) was 70% in 2003 in Nigeria when it peaked after four years of democracy. In South Africa, it was 89% in 1999 when participatory electoral democracy was restored. This had declined to 35% in Nigeria in 2019 and 63% in South-Africa in 2019 elections, representing 35% and 26% decline at the peak of electoral participation in both countries respectively. The causes of political apathy in the two countries have been attributed to lack of mobilization of the electorate, political marginalization, corruption, lack of political accountability, lack of motivation, lack of trust in the electoral process, failed promises by political leaders, lack of civic engagements, political violence, thuggery and militarization of the electoral process, political deception, powerlessness of votes etc. Citizens' loss of interest in the electoral system in both countries has clearly undermined increased participation in the political and electoral processes. The Rational Choice Theory (Downs, 1959) was used. This work obs

Nina Eliasoph's vivid portrait of American civic life reveals an intriguing culture of political avoidance. Despite the importance for democracy of open-ended political conversation among ordinary citizens, many Americans try hard to avoid appearing to care about politics. To discover how, where and why Americans create this culture of avoidance, the author accompanied suburban volunteers, activists, and recreation club members for over two years, listening to them talk - and avoid talking - about the wider world, together and in encounters with government, media, and corporate authorities. She shows how citizens create and express ideas in everyday life, contrasting their privately expressed convictions with their lack of public political engagement. Her book challenges received ideas about culture, power and democracy, while exposing the hard work of producing apathy.