Political Science
Programme Course 4TH
SEMESTER
SEC-II Course Title:- An Introduction to the
Political Sociology
THE CONCEPT OF
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Political participation means the involvement
of groups and individuals at various levels in the political system.
Huntington, Samuel and Nelson Joan's detinition refers to it as 'activity by
private citizens designed to influence governmental decision aaking.• According
to Nie and Verba's definition it includes •those legal activities by private
citizens which are more or less directly aimed at influencing the selection of
governmental personnel and the actions they take.' Thus, political
participation refers to activity that is designed to have an impact on
governmental decision making and actions. One can also call political
participation as people's efforts to influence the authoritative allocation of
values for a society.
To an extent, political participation is a
function of the ambit ·or governmental activity. An issue involved in the
meaning or the term concerns the inclusion into the concept of psychological
processes leading to it or simply the act per se. Almond and Verba have
focussed on the psychological or subjective attributes of political
participation. Lazarafield et a1 have utilized interest in politics as the only
means of measuring political participation apart from ballots. The scope of the
term 'political participation• has expanded. Earlier, in the narrow sense,
studies focussed on citizens' participation in the elections through voting, 2
political discussions, mobilizations, canvassing votes and attending political
meetings. In the extended sense the concept now includes such activities during
elections, through which the citizens try to influence goverrment decisions
diverse forms of individual's and groups' involvement in the political
processes.
Factors Influencing Political Participation:
Political participation is a complex phenomenon. It
depends upon a variety of factors that influence it.
These
factors can be described as under:
1. Psychological or cognitive traits:
Social psychologists have emphasized on
psychological traits which stem from individual personality and cognitive
structures. They include sense of efficacy, sense of civic responsibility,
sociability, sense of alienation and authoritarianism.
It
is assumed that there is a relation between the cognitive status of low
self-esteem and feeling of pessimism and alienation from society and political
apathy. But this political apathy influences political participation it is not
much clear and certain.
2. Social environment:
The
social environment definitely has an impact on political participation. Social
environment includes elements like education, occupation, income, age sex,
race, caste, ethnicity, mobility and habitation. The more educated are better
able to transmit their political interest and knowledge to their children and to
the people of their neighbourhood.
In
this respect, educational institutions serve as the basic ground in the
development of articulateness and skills of political participation through
schools/college/university unions. One learns here to join in an organization,
fulfill duties, participate in meetings, discuss social issues and organize to
achieve group goals.
3. Political environment:
To
what extent an individual receives political stimuli to participate in
political activities, depends on the political environment or the political
setting in which he/she finds himself/herself. The right to participate is a
defining feature of democratic political systems but is not fully exercised.
Levels of political interest and apathy have often been taken as criteria of
participation and non-participation, including party membership, expressed
interest in politics and awareness of issues.
Political
parties also have an important role to play in political participation. This
role is partly expressive and partly instrumental. The party inspires in its
members a feeling of belongingness. It acts as a powerful reference group in
its own right.
As
a part of its instrumental functions, the party contacts and registers voters,
selects party nominees, organizes campaign activities, mobilizes rallies to
influence the electorate during elections to vote and at o her occasions to
favour their programmes.
The campaign and
rally have their effects on polarizing party attachments and reinforcing
candidate preferences. A significant aspect of the relation of the individual
to his/her political environment is his/her exposure to the influence of
propaganda.
4. Level of modernization and
urbanization:
It
has been argued that there is a positive correlation between these two
processes and the political participation. Both the processes help in
increasing the extent of political communication which leads to greater
political awareness.
Urbanization
as the first stage of the modernization process tends to raise literacy;
increased literacy tends to increase the media exposure; and increasing media
exposure facilitates wider political participation. Economic modernization
affects political participation through socio-economic status.
High
socio-economic status is conducive for an increase in the overall amount of
political participation. Modernization not only tends to increase class-based
participation but also decrease communal-based participation. A majority of
lower-class persons generally vote for the left parties while the majority of
the upper and middle class persons vote for the rightist parties.
5. Political socialization:
Socialization
is the mechanism by which people become aware about the issues and ideology and
come to identify with a particular political party. It affects both the quality
and amount of participation. The politically aware are usually better able to
relate their social values to their political opinions, to achieve stable,
internally consistent belief systems.
6. Modes of participation:
There
are varieties of ways in which people can participate in the political
processes of a society. Some are directly associated with the electoral
sub-system and some are with other political activities. Activities like
voting, campaigning, etc., are some of the important modes of participation.
7. Voting:
Voting
is the most frequent citizen activity, especially in modern democracies. The
scope and the outcome of voting is very broad affecting all the members of a
society. Voting determines the leadership issues and policies of the party as
well as the whole nation. The major criterion remains voting in elections which
is consistently somewhat higher than the other measures.
8. Campaign activities:
Participation
in election campaign or other campaigns is another mode of political
participation. Through this leaders can increase their influence over the
citizens and the voter turnout. Campaign activity also produces collective
outcomes.
9. Co-operative activity:
People
can also participate outside the electoral process—voting and election
campaign. They can take part in groups or organizational activity to deal with
social and political problems. In such activities they join hands with other
people of the society to influence the actions of the government. The outcome
of such a participation results in collective gain.
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