Does poor health mobilize people into action? Health, political trust, and participation

Abstract

Recently, awareness of the importance of health in explaining political participation has grown considerably. Studies have focused on individual participation forms but not on broader participation modes. Furthermore, analyses of the mechanisms explaining the health effects have been lacking. Here, structural equation models are employed to study the relationship between health, political trust, and institutional and non-institutional participation using data from Finland. Poor health is related to increased non-institutional participation, while good health boosts traditional institutional participation, although the latter relationship is very weak. These observations are explained by differences in political trust. Those in good health have stronger trust in the political system, while poor health is connected with reduced trust. These differences manifest themselves in varying behaviour. Poor health decreases trust which leads to increased non-institutional participation, while good health leads to a high trust and institutional activities.

Interest through necessity? The impact of personal health on the stability of political interest in the United Kingdom

“…This underscores the increasing appreciation among scholars that health affects all aspects of the human experience, including political attitudes (Papageorgiou et al, 2019) and political behaviour (e.g. Mattila, 2019;Pacheco and Fletcher, 2015;Stockemer and Rapp, 2019). As such, a change in personal health potentially constitutes an important life event, which may have consequences for political interest, especially in the case of long-term health problems or other serious health conditions.…”

Perceptions of Canadian Federal Policy Responses to COVID-19 among People with Disabilities and Chronic Health Conditions

“…Perceptions of policy fairness, whether about disparate impacts of social distancing measures or economic impacts and burdens unduly placed on those already financially strained, have direct bearing on public attitudes about government responses and subsequent public action (Han and Zheng 2020). Individuals struggling economically because of their health and disability status tend to have more negative perceptions of policy because they see themselves as victims of unjust inequalities (Mattila 2020; see also Corcoran, Pettinicchio and Young 2011;2015). Social distancing, protective and lock down measures, as well as being left out of income support https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cpp.2021-012 -Monday, May 10, 2021 4:59:36 PM -IP Address: 44.224.250.200 This article has undergone peer review and been accepted for publication by the Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de politiques.…”

Health and Disability Gaps in Political Engagement: A Short Review

“…Research from Finland shows that poor health leads to lower levels of trust, which in turn depresses traditional forms of participation (such as voting), but that it has the opposite the effect on non-institutional participation. Health problems in combination with low levels of trust motivate people to engage in participatory forms that bypass traditional party-based institutions (e.g., demonstrating, boycotting products and political participation in social media) [22]. This poor-health-related disengagement from traditional forms of participation may also be related to the observation that when people become ill, their identification with political parties also decreases [23].…”