Citizenship Norms in Eastern Europe

Abstract

Research on Eastern Europe stresses the weakness of its civil society and the lack of political and social involvement, neglecting the question: What do people themselves think it means to be a good citizen? This study looks at citizens’ definitions of good citizenship in Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, using 2002 European Social Survey data. We investigate mean levels of civic mindedness in these countries and perform regression analyses to investigate whether factors traditionally associated with civic and political participation are also correlated with citizenship norms across Eastern Europe. We show that mean levels of civic mindedness differ significantly across the four Eastern European countries. We find some support for theories on civic and political participation when explaining norms of citizenship, but also demonstrate that individual-level characteristics are differently related to citizenship norms across the countries of our study. Hence, our findings show that Eastern Europe is not a monolithic and homogeneous bloc, underscoring the importance of taking the specificities of countries into account.

Assessing How Participators Combine Acts in Their “Political Tool Kits”: A Person-Centered Measurement Approach for Analyzing Citizen Participation

“…Although the ideal types of engaged and duty-based political participators described above are derived from Dalton’s (2008, 2015) scholarship and are widely referenced in the literature (e.g., Coffé and van der Lippe 2010; Copeland 2014b; Quaranta 2016), these typological concepts have not yet been tested with an actor-oriented measurement model. Rather, studies on the topic tend to analyze political acts either as single behaviors, or as separate additive indices of electoral versus non-electoral behavior (e.g., Bolzendahl and Coffé 2013; Marien et al 2010; Martin 2012).…”

Youth Future Civic Participation in Europe: Differences Between the East and the Rest

“…Strong norms of civic involvement and participation were promoted and imposed by the media, forcing membership to youth organizations like the Young Pioneers and Comsomol being mandatory. People had to participate in state-controlled organizations and autonomous forms of civic participation were suppressed (Coffé & van der Lippe, 2009;Flanagan, Bowes, Jonsson, Csapo, & Sheblanova, 1993).…”

“…During the communist era, the East Bloc countries shared similar values and ideology and followed a similar course of political and socioeconomic development. This was also reflected in civic participation patterns that distinguished Eastern Europe from the rest of the continentregimes were forcing their citizens for mass civic participation in state-controlled activities and organizations (Coffé & van der Lippe, 2009;Howard, 2002;Letki, 2004). The fall of communism brought many changes among the "brother nations", each one of them taking a different path towards democratic changes in their societies.…”

The Story of Good Citizenship: Framing Public Policy in the Context of Duty‐Based versus Engaged Citizenship

“…Dalton's (2008a) The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation is Reshaping American Politics , calls into question these academic and popular assumptions about those under age 30. Similarly, studies conducted outside the United States also question these assumptions (e.g., Coffé and van der Lippe 2009; Denters, Gabriel, and Torcal 2007). In The Good Citizen and elsewhere, Dalton (2006, 2008b) uses survey data to demonstrate that dramatic social transformations (increased education, increased diversity, increased workforce participation of women, and changing occupational roles) have led to citizens who are more actively and directly involved in politics, who care about politics, and who have concerns for the well‐being of others and the public interest.…”