Political Participation of Young People in East Germany

Oswald, Hans; Schmid, Christine

doi:10.1080/09644009808404531

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…This second line of research suggests that core values and identities are acquired at an early age and remain relatively stable during the life cycle (Sapiro, 2004). A growing body of research indeed proposes that political attitudes and behaviors are shaped early in life, for example, through socialization within families, schools, peer groups, participation in community projects and youth associations (Jennings and Niemi, 1981;Flanagan and Sherrod, 1998;Hahn, 1998;Jennings and Stoker, this issue;Niemi and Junn, 1998;Oswald and Schmid, 1998;Yates and Youniss, 1999;Galston, 2001;Torney-Purta et al, 2001;. Of course, changes in attitudes do occur during adulthood as well (Sigel, 1989a), partly as a result of job experiences (Kohn and Schooler, 1982), family transitions (Lesthaeghe and Moors, 2001) or period effects, but in general these changes do not tend to interfere with the basic pattern established early in the life cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Roots of Social Capital: Attitudinal and Network Mechanisms in the Relation between Youth and Adult Indicators of Social Capital

2004

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One of the basic assumptions of social capital theory is that social interactions, whether in formal or informal settings, lead to socialization into pro-social value patterns such as generalized trust or reciprocity. This assumption has thus far been tested exclusively with adult populations. As a result, social capital studies tend to ignore a large body of political socialization research indicating that a number of crucial political behaviors and attitudes are already shaped at an early age, and that they continue to be rather stable during the life cycle. In this article, we use the Youth-Parent Socialization panel study (1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982) to demonstrate that with regard to generalized trust and participation, distinctive patterns are already in place during adolescence and continue into adulthood. Structural equation modeling produced support both for the attitudinal as for the network mechanism, although the stability with regard to trust was higher than with regard to participation. Our analysis suggests that social capital studies should, in the future, pay more attention to youth research than they have to date.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Roots of Social Capital: Attitudinal and Network Mechanisms in the Relation between Youth and Adult Indicators of Social Capital

2004

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“…To our knowledge, there are only two cross‐sectional studies that have examined peer relations and illegal political behavior among adolescents. Both studies showed that communication with peers about politics correlated positively with adolescents' readiness to use illegal political activity (Kuhn, ; Oswald & Schmid, ). Additionally, both studies reported adolescent–peer similarities in illegal political behavior.…”

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confidence: 99%

Peer Networks and the Development of Illegal Political Behavior Among Adolescents

Dahl

Zalk

2013

J of Research on Adolesc

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This study examined to what extent peer influence explains the development of illegal political behavior controlling for peer selection, legal political peer influence, and gender effects. Late adolescents who filled out questionnaires at two annual measurements were used in a longitudinal social network approach (N = 1006; Mage = 16.62). Results showed that peers' involvement in illegal political behavior predicted adolescents' increases in illegal political behavior. Adolescents did not select other peers with similar illegal political behavior. Nevertheless, adolescents selected peers with similar legal political behavior. Findings were discussed in light of a stage process where adolescents initially chose peers with similar legal political behavior. Subsequently, peers influence adolescents on both legal and illegal political behavior.

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“…There are, however, some national differences in the theses put forward to explain these patterns. For example, in relation to eastern Germany, in particular, Oswald and Schmid (1998) have argued that the disengagement with formal politics evident amongst young people can be linked to their wider disillusionment with democracy as a result of their experiences since reunification. In contrast, in Norway, the decline in youth employment during the 1990s has been argued by some to account for an increasing disinterest in formal politics (Carle, 2000).…”

Section: Young People and The European Unionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young People and Political Participation: An Analysis of European Union Policies

Brooks

2009

Sociological Research Online

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There is now widespread recognition that, far from being politically apathetic, young people across Europe are engaged in a wide range of 'political' activities. While turnout at national and European elections among the 18-25 age group may be low, researchers have highlighted diverse and creative new forms of political participation.In relation to young women, in particular, Harris (2005) has presented a compelling analysis of the new 'borderspaces' opened up between public and private domains by young women through the use of new technologies. She contends that in the face of greater surveillance and regulation brought about by the shift to neo-liberal forms of governmentality, carving out a protected space for oneself is a political act, in itself.Moreover, the creative ways in which young women across the world use such spaces -to question dominant narratives about the nature of contemporary girlhood, to resist discourses which construct young women as merely passive consumers, and to trouble conventional notions of 'youth participation' -are highly political. Some EU representatives have indicated an awareness of these new forms of engagement and professed a desire to develop links between them and more traditional forms of party politics and policy making (Hoskins, 2005). Nevertheless, the degree to which these sentiments have been translated into policy remains unclear. This article draws on recent documents on young people, citizenship and political participation to assess the extent to which these new spaces of young women's politics are, firstly, recognised and, secondly, valued within EU policy.

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Political Participation of Young People in East Germany

Cited by 22 publications

References 3 publications

The Roots of Social Capital: Attitudinal and Network Mechanisms in the Relation between Youth and Adult Indicators of Social Capital

The Roots of Social Capital: Attitudinal and Network Mechanisms in the Relation between Youth and Adult Indicators of Social Capital

Peer Networks and the Development of Illegal Political Behavior Among Adolescents

Young People and Political Participation: An Analysis of European Union Policies

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