Understanding Political Involvement Among Disadvantaged Adolescents

Understanding Political Involvement Among Disadvantaged Adolescents PDF Author: Suzanne Pritzker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Following substantial concern in recent years about youth disengagement from the political arena, 2008 Presidential election data indicate that youth political participation is now on the rise. However, low-income and some ethnic minority youth are substantially less likely to participate and to hold positive attitudes about politics and government than their wealthier and/or White counterparts. This suggests a possible disconnect between ethnic minority or economically disadvantaged youth and the larger U.S. society, and may signal potential life-long disassociation from civic processes. Using four years of 12th grade data from Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth, this dissertation sought to assess differential impacts of economic status and racial/ethnic identification on adolescent political development, to inform civic interventions that seek to counter this possible disconnect. Bivariate analyses tested previous findings of racial and socio-economic differences in political attitudes and behaviors. Confirmatory factor analyses assessed whether adolescents of different socio-economic status or races/ethnicities similarly interpret political attitude and behavioral measures. Finally, structural equation modeling analyses tested whether socio-economic status or race/ethnicity moderate paths between political attitudes and behaviors. Results indicated that low-income, Black, and Hispanic adolescents held more negative political attitudes and lower levels of political behavior. While adolescents of different socio-economic status interpreted attitudinal and behavioral items and constructs similarly, important differences were identified across racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Black adolescents interpreted political attitudes differently than other adolescents, suggesting caution in interpreting cross-group analyses of adolescent attitudes and perceptions towards government. Finally, path analyses indicated that White adolescents and adolescents across socio-economic status who are interested in government and hold political preferences and beliefs were more likely to engage in non-traditional political activities, while these attitudes did not predict electoral behavior. For these subgroups, positive views of how government acts predict electoral activity, while negative views of how government behaves predict non-traditional political activity. These paths were not all significant for Black, Hispanic, and Asian adolescents, however, suggesting that adolescent paths between political attitudes and behaviors may operate differently across races/ethnicities. Implications of these findings for youth development practice, future research, and civic education and civic development policy are presented.

Understanding Political Involvement Among Disadvantaged Adolescents

Understanding Political Involvement Among Disadvantaged Adolescents PDF Author: Suzanne Pritzker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Following substantial concern in recent years about youth disengagement from the political arena, 2008 Presidential election data indicate that youth political participation is now on the rise. However, low-income and some ethnic minority youth are substantially less likely to participate and to hold positive attitudes about politics and government than their wealthier and/or White counterparts. This suggests a possible disconnect between ethnic minority or economically disadvantaged youth and the larger U.S. society, and may signal potential life-long disassociation from civic processes. Using four years of 12th grade data from Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth, this dissertation sought to assess differential impacts of economic status and racial/ethnic identification on adolescent political development, to inform civic interventions that seek to counter this possible disconnect. Bivariate analyses tested previous findings of racial and socio-economic differences in political attitudes and behaviors. Confirmatory factor analyses assessed whether adolescents of different socio-economic status or races/ethnicities similarly interpret political attitude and behavioral measures. Finally, structural equation modeling analyses tested whether socio-economic status or race/ethnicity moderate paths between political attitudes and behaviors. Results indicated that low-income, Black, and Hispanic adolescents held more negative political attitudes and lower levels of political behavior. While adolescents of different socio-economic status interpreted attitudinal and behavioral items and constructs similarly, important differences were identified across racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Black adolescents interpreted political attitudes differently than other adolescents, suggesting caution in interpreting cross-group analyses of adolescent attitudes and perceptions towards government. Finally, path analyses indicated that White adolescents and adolescents across socio-economic status who are interested in government and hold political preferences and beliefs were more likely to engage in non-traditional political activities, while these attitudes did not predict electoral behavior. For these subgroups, positive views of how government acts predict electoral activity, while negative views of how government behaves predict non-traditional political activity. These paths were not all significant for Black, Hispanic, and Asian adolescents, however, suggesting that adolescent paths between political attitudes and behaviors may operate differently across races/ethnicities. Implications of these findings for youth development practice, future research, and civic education and civic development policy are presented.

Youth and Political Participation

Youth and Political Participation PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9087904479
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
Learning about politics and life as a citizen is part of the transition to adulthood. During this stage young people in most Western democracies are introduced to political processes and issues, as well as a range of political activities including voting and participation in social movements. But young people make this transition differently. The articles in this Book explore a range of ways that young people participate politically and also discuss those who are not ‘active citizens’.

Youth and Politics in Times of Increasing Inequalities

Youth and Politics in Times of Increasing Inequalities PDF Author: Marco Giugni
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030636763
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Young people are very often the driving forces of political participation that aims to change societies and political systems. Rather than being depoliticized, young people in different national contexts are giving rise to alternative politics. Drawing on original survey data collected in 2018, this edited volume provides a detailed analysis of youth participation in nine European countries by focusing on socialization processes, different modes of participation and the mobilization of youth politics. "This volume is an indispensable guide to understanding young European’s experience and engagement of politics, the inequalities that shape young people’s political engagement and are sometimes replicated through them, and young people’s commitment to saving the environment and spreading democratic ideals. Based on compelling and extensive research across nine nations, this volume makes important advances in key debates on youth politics and provides critical empirical insights into which young people engage, influences on young people’s politics, how young people engage, why some young people don’t engage, and trends across nations. The volume succeeds in the herculean task of focusing on specific national contexts while also rendering a comprehensive picture of youth politics and inequality in Europe today." —Jennifer Earl, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona, USA "Forecasts by social scientists of young people’s increasingly apathetic stance towards political participation appear to have been misplaced. This text, drawing data and analysis across and between nine European countries, captures the changing nature of political ‘activism’ by young people. It indicates how this is strongly nuanced by factors such as social class and gender identity. It also highlights important distinctions between young people’s approaches towards more traditional (electoral) and more contemporary (non-institutional) forms of participation. Critically, it illuminates the many ways in which youth political participation has evolved and transformed in recent years. Wider social circumstances and experiences are identified as highly significant in preparing young people for, and influencing their levels of participation in, both protest-oriented action and electoral politics." —Howard Williamson, Professor of European Youth Policy, University of South Wales, UK "This book is an incredible guide to understanding the role and sources of inequalities on young people’s political involvement. Country specific chapters allow the authors to integrate a large number of the key and most pressing issues regarding young people’s relationship to politics in a single volume. Topics range from social mobility and the influence of socioeconomic (parental) resources and class; young people’s practice in the social sphere; the intersection of gender with other sources of inequalities; online participation and its relationship with social inequalities; the impact of harsh economic conditions; the mobilization potential of the environmental cause; to the role of political organizations. Integrating all these pressing dimensions in a common framework and accompanying it with extensive novel empirical evidence is a great achievement and the result is a must read piece for researchers and practitioners aiming to understand the challenges young people face in developing their relationship to politics." —Gema García-Albacete, Associate Professor of Political Science, University Carlos III Madrid, Spain

Engaging Youth in Politics

Engaging Youth in Politics PDF Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781617700149
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Essays in this collection describe changing patterns of youth political participation in America, look at reasons behind inequalities in participation among various social groups, and outline reforms that might stimulate greater youth participation, drawing on lessons learned from programs in Canada and the UK. Topics include electoral turnout, youth participation in the 2008 elections, the Internet and youth political participation, and civic engagement and the disadvantaged.

Civic Learning for Alienated, Disaffected and Disadvantaged Students

Civic Learning for Alienated, Disaffected and Disadvantaged Students PDF Author: Xiaoxue Kuang
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000358194
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 149

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Book Description
In their journeys to engaged citizenship, civic education is a right for all students, helping them to become active and informed. However, for some students, there are barriers to engagement. It is these barriers that are dealt with in this book. Civic education is a key component of the school curriculum irrespective of country and political system. Ensuring that young people understand the political and social contexts of their country, and indeed their planet, is a key requirement in a rapidly changing and unpredictable world. Providing access to civic learning, therefore, is a priority for schools and the societies in which they are embedded. Yet, for some students, barriers exist which prevent a deep understanding of the requirements for full participation and engagement. These students are neglected not only in schools but in research as well. This book seeks to fill that gap by shining a light on the multiple disadvantages that many students suffer in seeking to exercise their rights as active and informed citizens. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Educational Psychology.

#youthaction

#youthaction PDF Author: Ben Kirshner
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 162396797X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Social media and digital tools permeate the everyday lives of young people. In the early stages of commentary about the impact of the digital age on civic life, debates revolved around whether the Internet enhanced or discouraged civic and political action. Since then we have seen new media move to center stage in politics and activism--from the 2008 US election to the 2011 Arab Spring to the Occupy movement. We have also seen new patterns in how different sub-groups make use of digital media. These developments have pushed people to move beyond questions about whether new media are good or bad for civic life, to ask instead: how, under what conditions, and for whom, do new digital tools become resources for political critique and action by the young? This book will provide a platform for a new wave of scholarship about young people’s political participation in the digital age. We define “youth” or “young people” as roughly between the ages of 12 and 25. We include perspectives from political science, education, cultural studies, learning sciences, and youth development. We draw on the framework developed by the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (Cohen, Kahne, Bowyer, Middaugh, & Rogowski, 2012), which defines participatory politics as, “interactive, peer-based acts through which individuals and groups seek to exert both voice and influence on issues of public concern.”

Youth Engagement

Youth Engagement PDF Author: Jessica K. Taft
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1781905444
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
This volume critically examines the multiple and contested meanings of ideal citizenship and reveal how children and youth craft active citizenship as they encounter and respond to the various institutions and organizations designed to encourage their civic and political development.

Understanding Adolescents’ Political Agency

Understanding Adolescents’ Political Agency PDF Author: Håkan Stattin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040029078
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
This ground-breaking volume shows that young people largely shape their own political development, and that to understand young people's political development, we must consider their political agency. Håkan Stattin explores the findings of an extensive longitudinal study of the political socialization of young people in Sweden from the ages of 13 to 28, which shows that, contrary to popular belief, it is not parents, peers, teachers or other key adults who are the primary agents in shaping young people's political development; it is their own self-directed political interest. Given that political interest is both an input and an output, the book examines how political interest affects young people's political interactions with their parents, and why young people and their parents perceive these interactions differently. It covers key issues such as the impact of political-interest-triggering events and civil unrest, the role of school and peers, parental involvement and the path from political interest to future political and civic engagement. Launching a new field of research internationally, this volume is essential reading for researchers, students, educators, and policy developers interested in young people's political and civic attitudes, engagement, communication, core values and the emergence of intrinsic political sophistication.

Youth Civic and Political Engagement

Youth Civic and Political Engagement PDF Author: Martyn Barrett
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429655371
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
What exactly is civic and political participation? What factors influence young people’s participation? How can we encourage youth to actively participate in their own democracies? Youth Civic and Political Engagement takes a multidisciplinary approach to answering these key questions, incorporating research in the fields of psychology, sociology, political science and education to explore the issues affecting youth civic and political engagement. Drawing on evidence that has been obtained in many different national contexts, and through multinational studies, this book provides a theoretical synthesis of this large and diverse body of research, using an integrative multi-level ecological model of youth engagement to do so. It identifies unresolved issues in the field and offers numerous suggestions for future research. Youth Civic and Political Engagement is an invaluable resource for researchers, teachers, youth workers, civil society activists, policymakers and politicians who wish to acquire an up-to-date understanding of the factors and processes that influence young people’s civic and political engagement, and how to promote youth engagement.

Post-Broadcast Democracy

Post-Broadcast Democracy PDF Author: Markus Prior
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521858720
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This 2007 book studies the impact of the media on politics in the United States during the last half-century.