Political Participation Individual Political Action foot soldiers extremist activists political leaders ID: 641082
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Slide1
CHAPTER 3
- In this chapter, we will examine actual political behavior of individuals, and groups:
Political Participation
Individual Political Action (
foot soldiers, extremist activists,
political leaders
)
Group, Political Group (interest group and political party)
Group Political action (*interest groups-
types, aim, and
activities
, *political parties-
aims and functions
)
Constraints on Group BehaviorSlide2
Political participation:
It refers to all of political actions made by individuals and groups. The basic objective of most political participation is to influence the actions of rulers.
Political participation differs from person to person. At one extreme, we find people who deal with politics and political activities at different levels. At the other extreme, there are people who have no interest in politics.Slide3
Political actions can be divided into two categories: Individual political action and group political action
1.
INDIVIDUAL POLITICAL ACTIONS
Types of individual political actions can be classified according to
i)
the effort
or
cost
required to perform that type of action
.
ii)
the
frequency
with which people tend to perform them.Slide4
Modes of Political Activity
Who performs? and What is performed?
*
Revolutionaries/protestors
: The basic activity includes political violence against political order, riot, civil disobedience, protest demonstration, protest meetings.
*
Government Activists
: candidate for public office.
*
Partisan Activist
: contribute money to party or candidate, attend meetings and rallies, actively work for party, issue or candidate, persuade others how to vote, join and support party.Slide5
*
Community Activists
: active in community organizations, form group to work on local problems, contact officials on social issues,
Communicators
: write letters to media, send support or protest messages to political leaders, engage in political discussion,
*
Contact Specialists
: contact local, state or national officials on particular problems
*
Voters
: vote regularly in electionsSlide6
*
Supporters and Patriots
: show patriotism by flying flag, attending public parade (national ceremonies), express love of country, pay all taxes
*
Inactives
: no voting, no other political activity.
Individual political activists
(foot soldiers, extremist activists and political leaders)
a-
Foot Soldiers :
foot soldiers do the basic work of politics
.
foot soldiers are intermediaries between people and top political leadership
. Slide7
They link the government and the top political leadership to the masses by performing some important tasks, such
as collecting money
for candidates on political issues,
working in the local offices
of political leaders,
transferring the views of top leaders to citizens
and regularly
voicing the opinions of citizens to political leaders
.
foot soldiers are members of political parties or groups with a political mission
.Slide8
b-
Extremist Activists
are willing to engage in extensive political action which would require
a dramatic shift
in the nature of the existing system.
like foot soldiers, extremist-activists might engage in some conventional actions which are inside the system. But they engage in
extensive actions
ranging from organizing grassroots movements to guerrilla welfare which are
outside the system
.
revolutionary leaders
are extremist-activists. (A revolutionary is a person who desires to overthrow the existing political order and to replace it with a new one.)Slide9
c-
Political Leaders
- They hold
actual political power
to make decisions.
There are some
formal titles
used for political leaders: (chairman, chancellor, dictator, governor, king, mayor, emperor, president, prime minister, minister, deputy.I
nformal titles
:Father (baba), Mother (ana), Der Fuhrer, chief (sef), (Turkmenbasi?), (Karaoglan), (Basbug)
- A top political leader might implement correct policies, wrong policies or might accomplish nothing.Slide10
Political Participation Studies
- Some empirical data compare levels of participation across many countries. Table 3.2 on page 52 (in 5
th
edition) and page …. (in 6
th
edition) provides these data for selected countries.
1)
The most obvious observation about these figures is the
huge variation in voting level
, ranging from 98 percent in Vietnam to only 28 percent in Haiti.Slide11
*
In some countries where voters` attendance in election (voting turnout) is very high such as Cuba and N. Korea,
voting is primarily a symbolic act
that is used to express support for the existing political leadership.
*
There are some countries such as Kenya, Singapore, and Zimbabwe, where the top
leadership or military refused the elections if they do not approve of the election results
.Slide12
2)
The second observation is that
some citizens are willing to engage irregularly in more activist modes of political participation
.
Table 3.3
on
page 54
(5
th
edition) indicates that a significant number of people perform certain less-conventional political acts, including some actions that require considerable effort or risk such as signing petition, participating in boycotts, and lawful demonstrations.
* There is a substantial variation, from country to country, in the proportion of citizens who undertake various forms of
conventional and unconventional
political action.Slide13
-
For example, nearly 4 out of 5 Canadians have signed a petition whereas less than 1 in 10 Nigerians has done so.
* In
democratic countries
,
most individuals use the conventional modes of voting and contacting public officials
as the key means of achieving political objectives.
* In
less-democratic countries
on the other hand
, non-governmental channels are largely used and unconventional modes of political behavior are the major instruments
of achieving political objectives.Slide14
2) GROUP POLITICAL ACTIONS
Why do people join political groups?
- The most common reason is that individual actions will not make any difference. The
group is more capable than the individual
to exercise influence. Most individuals have a minimal effect on political decisions and actions.
- Even in democracies, casting a vote is the primary political act for most people. But if huge numbers of votes are cast,
one individual’s vote is politically insignificant
.
- Groups are often the major mechanism by which
individuals are linked
to the political system.Slide15
*
A group
can be defined as an aggregation (gathering) of individuals who interact in order to pursue a common interest.
* The factor that distinguishes a political group from other groups is that the common interest, which the group pursues, is a political objective.
* A distinction is also made between
political interest groups and political parties
.
* A
political party
is a certain type of political group, which seeks not merely to influence political decisions but also to place its members in the actual roles of government, such as chief executives and legislators.Slide16
A-
Political Interest Groups
Political interest groups try to
influence
the allocation of public values. But in order to do this a variety of
strategies
can be employed.
a-
Activities of Political interest groups
(strategies)
i)-
Political action
: is the most direct way or method to achieve political objectives.
Voting Campaign activities Letter writing
Personal contact Petition rallies Political violenceSlide17
ii)
Provision of material resources
:
* Political interest groups can provide goods or services to political actors. Provision of goods and services will influence decision makers to be willing towards the interest of a group.
* Each political system has its own rules about the methods and amounts of money or goods that can be given to political actors.
In some political systems such as U.S.A extraordinary amounts of money are given to political actors by interest groups.
Slide18
Some of these contributions may be illegal.
iii)
Exchange of Information
(Provision of data and information to political actors)
* The interest group may have specialized information the political system would not obtain from other sources.
(
For example, in the early 1980’s, the US congress reject to pass a law requiring compulsory
air bags
in order to provide security in automobiles. This policy of Congress was shaped by the information provided by
automobile manufacturers who argue that air bags would reduce fuel economy and would not reduce overall injury levels in automobile accidents
. However, in 1990’s,
counter information
provided by another interest group,
the insurance industry
, persuaded the Congress and the public that air bags could save lives. This influence resulted in a law requiring air bags in automobiles.)Slide19
iv)
Cooperation
(between government and interest groups)
*Government actors understand that successful policy implementation is very possible when they develop policies that are acceptable to the affected interest groups.
*
Constraints on Gruop Behaviour
a)
Political resources
are not equally available for all groups in society.
Such resources include control of factors of production, social status, legality, special knowledge of skills, ability to mobilize large numbers of people, capacity for social disruption, and access to decision-makers.Slide20
b)
Objectives
:
The groups’ strategies and the probability that they will be successful are related to the nature of groups’ political objectives.
A given group might want the government to subsidize (support financially) farmers for growing wheat. Another group might attempt to influence policy-makers to eliminate poverty.
An interest group has particular advantages when;
→ its objective is quite similar to existing policy, and
→ the political system has the capacity to perform this objective.
Slide21
c)
Political Environment :
-The demands that groups can make and the actions in which they can engage depend on the
boundaries of acceptable political action
within the particular environment.
- In
democratic systems
for example, interest groups have extensive rights to make political demands and engage in political action.
- In
authoritarian political systems
, on the other hand the government does not tolerate interest group activities that are in opposition to the leadership. Their leaders usually face harassment and punishment from the authorities.Slide22
Types of Interest Groups
1-
Associational interest groups
: (labor unions, environmental movement, women’s groups, business associations, chambers of commerce, religious associations, ethnic associations, teachers association, students association, etc.)
An associational group:
-
represents a group of people on the basis of
formal membership
.
-
is
formed explicitly
to represent the interests of a particular group.
-
has specific
organizational procedures
for formulating interests an demands.
- is
very active
in representing the interests of their members.
- its tactics and goals are often recognized as
legitimate
in society.Slide23
2-
Institutional Interest Groups
: (legislative blocs, ideological cliques in bureaucracy, groups in clergy, officer cliques,
An institutional group:
- is formed to achieve goals other than affecting the political system.
- it has other political or social functions in addition to interest expression.
- it expresses its own interests or represents the interests of other groups in society.Slide24
3)-
Non-associational interest groups
: (ethnic groups, regional groups, religious groups, occupational groups)
A non-associational group:
- is an unstable gathering of individuals who are not explicitly associated with a permanent organizational entity but who share some common interest over certain issues.
- is based on irregular activities.
- is different from anomic groups in the sense that it is based on common interests of ethnicity, region, religion, occupation or kinship.
- is very difficult to organize.Slide25
4)
Anomic interest Groups
An Anomic Interest Group:
- is a short-lived, spontaneous gathering of people.
- is formed suddenly when many individuals respond similarly to frustration and disappointment.
-may use violence in its actions, but not necessarily.
- emerges where organized groups are absent.
- emerges with little or no planning.Slide26
B-
Political Parties
- A political group is called political party when the group attempts to capture political power directly by placing its members in governmental office.
Functions of parties
i)
Serving as brokers of ideas
:
- Parties serve as major brokers of ideas. This means that political parties harmonize many demands into a few packages of clear alternatives.
Parties can be differentiated into two broad categories:
a) Ideological parties b) Pragmatic partiesSlide27
a) Ideological Parties
: major programmatic goals (for example, egalitarianism, ethnic solidarity, Islamic fundamentalism). The ideological party aims to implement these goals to achieve deep changes in the socio-political order.
- Ideological parties are usually extreme.
b) Pragmatic parties
: more flexible goals and toward moderate policy change.
- To achieve electoral success, pragmatic parties might shift their ideological and political position.Slide28
ii)
Facilitating Political Socialization
:
- Individuals develop a clear “party identification.”
leftist, liberal, nationalist, conservative, fascist, etc
Even if an individual does not have strong party identification, political parties can be an important source of political knowledge.
iii)
Linking individual and political system
-A political party connects individuals and the political system.
- If the party gains political power, it can attempt to implement those demands of the individuals who support the party.
Slide29
iv)
Mobilizing and recruiting political activists
:
- In many political systems, involvement with a political party is the primary mechanism through which individuals become political activists.
-Political parties select the candidates for political positions or have the power to place individuals in positions within the political system.
-In non-democratic countries, the ruling political party gives most or all individuals political positions in key executive and legislative positions.Slide30
v)
Coordinating governmental operations
:
- The political party can encourage its members to work together to achieve shared policy goals. It can establish an internal hierarchy, where party leaders control the actions of party members.
vi)
Serving as sources of opposition
:
- In democratic countries where the political system has more than one party, the parties, which are not in political power, can serve as explicit and organized sources of opposition.
- In Britain, the leaders of opposition receive salaries to serve as a “
shadow government
.” There is a “
shadow prime minister
”, a “shadow minister of defense” and so on.