Political Knowledge and Electoral Participation in the Netherlands: Comparisons with the Canadian Case

Abstract

Recent research suggests a significant connection between declining voter turnout among younger Canadian cohorts and diminished levels of political knowledge. This article seeks to develop these findings further by drawing contrasts with a country (the Netherlands) that has not witnessed a significant turnout decline among the young to see whether political knowledge levels have likewise remained stable. The results partly confound expectations: as in Canada, a growing knowledge gap between young and old is evident in the Netherlands. Voting among young Dutch cohorts has not been markedly affected, however, because knowledge has less impact on electoral participation than in Canada. Hypotheses that help explain these patterns, and which might be tested in further comparative research, are advanced.

How internal political efficacy translates political knowledge into political participation: Evidence from Germany

“…According to contemporary wisdom, political knowledge “promotes political participation” (Galston, 2001, p. 224), and the same applies to internal political efficacy, as many studies report a positive impact of political efficacy on a range of political activities (Balch, 1974; Steinbrecher, 2009; Vecchione et al, 2014; Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995). While much empirical research was concerned with voting behaviour, showing that political knowledge increases the likelihood to vote (e.g., Amadeo, Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Husfeldt, & Nikolova, 2002; Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996; Howe, 2006; Krampen, 2000b), research has also focused on other kinds of political participation, however. On the one hand, scholars find the influence of political knowledge to be smaller with respect to other political activities (Milner, 2007; Oesterreich, 2003), and others even suggest that internal political efficacy might be the more robust predictor of unconventional political activities in comparison to the impact of political knowledge (Kuhn, 2006; Schulz et al, 2010).…”

The Gendered Impact of Crime on Political Knowledge: How Crime Impacts Cognition among Citizens in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…The role of informed citizens for the performance and implementation of democracy has stimulated a lot of research on political knowledge. Research on political knowledge has tried to explain its occurrence (both in relation to individual and structural variables); 9 its distribution with respect to gender; 10 its impact on voter turnout and political participation; 11 and tried to determine the consequences of a lack of well-informed citizens. 12 Cognitive functions and the ability to process information are central to amassing and processing political knowledge, and by extension the practice of your citizenship.…”

Znalosti a pozice v politickém prostoru: případ parlamentních voleb v Česku 2017

“…Jiné studie pak zkoumají, jak politická znalost ovlivňuje další chování jedince, zejména jeho participaci na politických aktivitách (např. Jung, Kim a de Zuñiga 2011 ;Milner 2002;Howe 2006), ve volebním chování (Gomez, Wilson 2001; Singh a Roy 2014; Marquis 2010) a také v tvorbě veřejného mínění a smýšlení o tématech (Althaus 1998;Delli Carpini a Keeter 1996;Rapeli 2014;Fishkin 1994). Tento text se řadí k druhému typu.…”