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Civic Time Use of Citizens Comparing Britain's civic culture

Civic Time Use of Citizens Comparing Britain's civic culture. Paul Stoneman www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/projects/esoctu. To come…. Measuring Civic Culture with the aid of time use variables Britain’s Civic Culture Compared with other West European Countries Technologies and ‘Civic Literacy’

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Civic Time Use of Citizens Comparing Britain's civic culture

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  1. Civic Time Use of CitizensComparing Britain's civic culture Paul Stoneman www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/projects/esoctu

  2. To come… • Measuring Civic Culture with the aid of time use variables • Britain’s Civic Culture Compared with other West European Countries • Technologies and ‘Civic Literacy’ “the knowledge and skills that we need for effective participation in the community, government, and politics” (see also Crick Report, Political Literacy) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  3. To be passionate about politics… …is to be some kind of nut. (Roseman, Abelson, and Ewing: 1986) • Why? Because it is not rational – the ‘free-rider’ problem • In-fact, very few regularly participate – only 9.2 percent of Brits record time allocated to civic acts (MTUS 2000) • We rely on a few (mad?) ‘High Intensity’ participators (Seyd & Whiteley: 2004) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  4. Participation and Citizenship www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  5. Civic Culture Measures Levels of: • Voting • Political Party Orientated Acts • Seeking out Political Information • Secondary Associations • Other Acts: protesting, boycotting, petition www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  6. How do we (the Brits) Compare? 1. Average Time Allocated to Civic Acts (MTUS 2000) 2. Formal Acts (ESS 2004): • Did you vote in last general election? • Are you a member of or have worked for a political party? 3. Civic Literacy (ESS 2004): • How often did you use the mass media for information on current affairs (includes internet)? • How often do you discuss politics? 4. Informal Acts (ESS 2004): • Do you participate in the any of the following organisations? • Have/are you likely to: Protest? Sign a petition? Boycott/buycott a product? www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  7. Time Use Diary Data (MTUS, 2000 to 2005) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  8. Vote Last General Election (2000 to 2005) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  9. Member of a Political Party (ESS 2004) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  10. How Often Use Media for Public Information (ESS 2004) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  11. How Often Discuss Politics (ESS 2004) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  12. Participate in Voluntary Organisations (ESS) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  13. Protest (sign petition, attend public demo - ESS) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  14. Boycotting and buycotting (ESS 2004) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  15. Civic Culture Score (ESS 2004) Very weak formal – reasonably strong informal www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  16. How do technologies play a role? • Main source of political information (Norris 2000) • Promotes political interest and discussion (ESS 2004 - controlling for age, gender and education) • Enhances Civic Literacy (Milner 2002) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  17. The Importance of Civic Literacy • Formal and Informal Activities Separate • Civic Literacy Activities Correlate With Both! www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  18. Spatial Representation of How Civic Acts Cluster Civic Literacy Formal Acts Informal Acts www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  19. Different Technologies, Different Behaviours? Discussion mediates Formal Acts Internet + Informal Acts www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  20. Are these associations just an artefact of age and education? • NO! Controlling for age, gender, education: .075* Vote Newspaper Party??? Internet .069* Vol Org Radio .086** Informal .157*** www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  21. Has internet usage facilitated civic culture switch? • No…formal civic measures were declining BEFORE widespread internet uptake • Decline in voting and party membership long term phenomena since early 1970s (Dalton 2000; Whiteley 2004) • Likewise, trust in British governments (Stoneman 2005) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  22. So what has? People uninspired by the two main parties… Last time most people believed two main parties were different Lowest turnout since 1918 www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  23. The ‘Benign’ Internet and Mass Media • Between 1997 and 2001, internet uptake in Britain huge – good timing! • The internet has provided British citizens avenues to channel their political energies into at a time when ‘formal’ avenues are increasingly seen as a waste of time • Some forms of media usage improves interest and participation in politics (Newton 1997; Norris 2001; Milner 2002) • In particular, the internet has increased ‘informal’ participation rates and a sense of political efficacy (Ward 2002, 2005) www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  24. Conclusion • Britain currently suffers from a weak ‘formal’ civic culture • This is primarily due to problems with the party system • Citizens have moved into more informal types of participation • With apt timing, Internet usage has facilitated this – a good thing (despite what the PM’s Chief Strategy Advisor says) So…. www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  25. New Technologies Play An Important But Limited Role • The Internet opens up new avenues for the interested but currently disengaged • However! The Internet will not stimulate interest amongst the apathetic – only politicians and parties can sort that one out! www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

  26. Thankyou for listening • For working paper, references and/or further information contact: pstone@essex.ac.uk www.essex.ac.uk/chimera

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