The Lasting Effect of Civic Talk on Civic Participation: Evidence from a Panel Study

Abstract

Extant research shows that individuals who discuss politics and current events with their peers also participate more actively in civil society. However, this correlation is not sufficient evidence of causation due to a number of analytical biases. To address this problem, data were collected through a panel study conducted on students at a large public university in the Midwestern United States. These data show that discussing politics and current events caused these students to participate in civic activities during their first year of college. A follow-up study conducted on the same population during their fourth year of college shows that the positive effect of civic talk on civic participation still exists despite the passage of three years. Further analysis shows that the boost in civic participation initially after engaging in civic talk is the mechanism by which the effect of civic talk lasts into the future. These findings illustrate the need to account for both individual-and social-level antecedents of civic participation when studying participatory democracy.

Gescheiterte Berufseinstiege und politische Sozialisation. Eine Längsschnittstudie zur Wirkung früher Arbeitslosigkeit auf politisches Interesse

“…Drittens folgt aus dem Sozialisationsmodell, dass Erlebnisse in jungem Alter einen bleibenden Effekt auf politische Orientierungen haben können (Dinas 2013;Firebaugh & Chen 1995;Klofstad 2010). Bei Arbeitslosigkeit stellt sich folglich die Frage nach der Langzeitwirkung.…”

Opening “Openness to Change”

“…Entering in new social contexts, young individuals are often exposed to different norms than those dominating in their original environment (Jennings 2002). Moreover, some of them attend college, a context with an exemplified ability to disseminate new political ideas and to promote political discussions (Klofstad 2010;Newcomb 1943). Although changes in social contexts take place throughout the life span, they are more frequent during early adulthood.…”

Promoting a Deliberative and Active Citizenry: Developing Traditional First Year College Student Political Engagement

“…Some specific interventions purposefully designed to develop college student political engagement include promoting "civic talk" in dormitories and residential life spaces (Klofstad 2010), building community-based discussions in general education courses (Schamber & Mahoney 2008), connecting volunteering activities more closely with voting experiences through campaign internships (Mariani & Klinker 2009), and designing multi-class global decision making simulations (Levintova, Johnson et al 2011).…”