POLSCI 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ostracism, Meritocracy, Potential Space
10 May 2018
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Political Psychology
9.07.16 Lecture Notes – Get Out the Vote!
On the basis of the resource model, these variable strongly predict political participation:
o Education
o Income
o Age
o Duration of residence in a particular place
o Active membership in certain types of institutions/organizations
Education and turnout
o Over 70% turnout for individuals with education over college degree
o About 20% for individuals under 9th grade
Income and turnout
o The greater the income, the higher the turnout
Age and turnout
o Linear increase from 18 to the 60s
Duration of residence and turnout
o The longer the residence, the higher the turnout
Importance of civic skills, deemed as communication and organization skills, on the job, in
nonpolitical organizations, and in churches/synagogues
o People who practice these skills in their daily lives can easily transfer these skills to the
political space – civic engagement costs are lowered because they already have such skills
o The more skill acts you perform, the more likely you are to politically participate
It has long been known that socioeconomic status (SES, education, income, occupation) is
associated with participation
Why do we care about expanding participating theory beyond SES?
o There are other factors that matter – there is potential to reducing inequalities in
representation
o Worried that access to government is limited by income and education – if there are other
factors, there is potential space for optimism
Free time is not as stratified by education as socioeconomic status is by education
The development of job skills increase as education increases (strong linear climb), while church
skills and organization skills climb less
Development of civic skills is less stratified across SES than income and education
Vocabulary score matters to voting
Why does education have such a strong relationships to participation?
o Civic skills hypothesis – education provides skills and information that lower the costs to
participation
▪ Better understanding of the abstract stuff of politics
▪ Better equipped to understand and research a political campaign, the issues, and the
candidates
▪ Better able to handle the bureaucratic aspects of registration and voting
▪ Develop skills that can be important to certain types of participation
▪ Type of education may matter
• Humanities/social sciences v. sciences/math/engineering
o Social network hypothesis – educated individuals are much more likely to be at the center
of politically important social networks than less educated individuals
▪ Closer to political decision makers (easier access)
▪ More dense political information flows (easier to find relevant information)
▪ Closer to other politically engaged individuals (easier to be recruited)
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Document Summary
9. 07. 16 lecture notes get out the vote! On the basis of the resource model, these variable strongly predict political participation: education, income, age, duration of residence in a particular place, active membership in certain types of institutions/organizations. Education and turnout: over 70% turnout for individuals with education over college degree, about 20% for individuals under 9th grade. Income and turnout: the greater the income, the higher the turnout. Age and turnout: linear increase from 18 to the 60s. Duration of residence and turnout: the longer the residence, the higher the turnout, the more skill acts you perform, the more likely you are to politically participate. Importance of civic skills, deemed as communication and organization skills, on the job, in nonpolitical organizations, and in churches/synagogues: people who practice these skills in their daily lives can easily transfer these skills to the. Free time is not as stratified by education as socioeconomic status is by education.
