Participation as a Stimulus of Political Conceptualization

Abstract

Though the school of participatory democracy claims that political participation affects individuals' conceptualization of politics, few empirical studies have addressed this question. This paper considers Bennett's (1975) argument that participation which involves the conflict of ideas and requires individual initiative and input enhances conceptualization. It is hypothesized that campaign, and national and local problem-solving activities enhance conceptualization but that expressive activities do not. The analysis, which uses data from the 1976 American National Election Study, supports the hypothesis, with the exception of local problem-solving activities. These findings suggest that Bennett's criteria are incomplete, and that characteristics of the participatory experience (e.g., success or failure) may determine the nature of its effect on conceptualization.

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