Fowler proposed a social learning model of voter turnout, and Bhatti and Hansen demonstrate that voter turnout among young (first-time) voters is highest among those living at home with their parents. Combining these theoretical and empirical results to a study of youth turnout, this article tests the hypothesis that the strongest determinant of attitudes towards turnout is parents' record of voting. The data used to test this hypothesis are a representative survey of Czech high school students aged 17-19 years, fielded in 2012. This study finds that the attitudes of youths who reside with their parents to turnout are strongly determined by their parents' example. Motivation also matters for voting, but the parental example is the most important determinant of turnout attitudes as a social learning model of turnout suggests. Keywordsturnout, youth, parents, social learning, socialisation Accepted: 7 March 2016 Within the classic studies of voting, the Columbia and Michigan research teams found that electoral participation and party choice are most strongly determined by the family. Election campaigns and party policy positions had less impact. This classic research highlighted the importance of political socialisation within the family (Berelson et al., 1954;Butler and Stokes, 1975;Campbell et al., 1960). Subsequent research has shown that electoral participation and the social context created by friends and peers are also critically important (Blais and Carty, 1990;Wolfinger and Rosenstone, 1980). This study looks at the parental example of electoral participation in instilling positive attitudes towards turnout in future elections in teenage children still living at home. This first-time voter segment of the electorate is important because many scholars think that Political Studies 65 (1S)electoral behaviour in a young voter's first election sets an example for life (Franklin, 2004;Jennings and Niemi, 1974). A similar argument is made about party attachment and vote choice. It is not clear that this 'imprinting' is equally important for all young voters. With respect to turnout, Bhatti and Hansen (2012: 384) show that turnout is relatively high for first-time voters (aged 18-21 years) and then falls dramatically when these firsttime voters leave their parents' home and live independently. If these young voters happen to move in with flat mates who also vote, then it seems this 'example' motivates turnout in subsequent elections (Bhatti and Hansen, 2013).The key point here is that when young adults live with their parents, they vote at a higher rate than when they live independently. This pattern suggests that parents can, and often do, exert a strong influence on their adult children's decision to vote when (a) their parents go voting and (b) when the adult children live at home (Bhatti and Hansen, 2012: 386). The three main explanations for this parental effect are (a) genetics through the inheritance of personality traits that are conducive to turning out to vote, (b) political socialisation wi...
Public support for government institutions tends to increase in the face of threats such as armed conflict, terrorism, or natural disasters. This phenomenon, known as the 'rally-'round-the-flag' effect, has also been observed as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries. Citizens' trust in the government's good intentions and ability to handle a crisis is very important, as it gives government the legitimacy to take strong measures. High trust in government also increases citizens' willingness to comply with these measures. The aim of this study is to examine the 'rally-'round-the-flag' effect in the Czech Republic, analyse the characteristics related to the increase in trust in government, and test the relationship between trust in government and compliance with anti-pandemic measures. The analysis uses data from five waves of the Czech Household Panel Study (2016-2020) and finds a dramatic increase in trust in government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A relatively higher increase in trust in government was observed among people with a low level of education and low social trust. Overall, however, the rise in trust in government is more of a general tendency across society than it is an increase in one specific group of the population. Trust in government is also linked to compliance with anti-pandemic measures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.