Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This paper expands previous research analyzing the impact voting laws have on voter turnout in national elections in the United States. I analyzed voter turnout in the 2008 Presidential Election and the 2010 off year election in all fifty states to see if voting restrictions declined turnout. My results show evidence that the further away from Election Day voter registration ends, the lower voter turnout a state can expect. I also found laws requiring employers to allow employees time off work to vote on Election Day had lower voter turnout rates than the states allowing employer discretion to determine whether an employee can take time off work to vote. Lastly, my paper shows evidence allowing anyone to vote by mail had a significant increase in the 2008 Presidential Election voter turnout rates compared to states requiring an excuse. However, I did not find any statistical significance in the 2010 off year election.

This dissertation argues that in two different genres, oratory and political philosophy, Cicero presents to the Roman elite a variety of possible motives for pursuing a political career, and advances his vision of legitimate political engagement. It challenges recent interpretations, first, by demonstrating how Ciceronian forensic rhetoric transcends judicial goals in pursuit of broader cultural and political aims (Chapter 1); second, by demonstrating that Cicero’s political philosophy advances a new form of elite engagement, informed by Greek ethical philosophy and contemplative pursuits (Chapters 2-4); and, third, by demonstrating that Cicero viewed philosophy as essential for rhetoric, not due to its instrumental value but as an ethical grounding for both personal behavior and public oratory (Chapter 4). The first chapter argues that in the Pro Sestio, Cicero uses the prospect of civic glory to motivate his listeners to defend the republic. The second chapter, in contrast, shows how Cicero’s first dialogue on political philosophy, the De Re Publica, downplays the motive of civic glory in favor of less mercenary motives drawn from Greek ethical philosophy, especially the attraction of virtue as its own reward. Cicero attempts to persuade his potentially resistant Roman audience, however, by adopting an initial pose of hostility towards philosophy and by putting philosophical ideas in the mouths of his Roman dialogical personae. The third chapter, on the Somnium Scipionis, argues that Cicero concludes the De Re Publica by employing the authority of Scipio to inspire his audience to study cosmology in order to acquire knowledge of the motives, ends, and means of political engagement; Scipio qualifies Laelius’s earlier argument about virtue, reevaluating it as a means to an eternal reward based on Platonic eschatology. The fourth chapter shows that in De Legibus 1, the character Marcus Cicero mounts two arguments for natural law in two different styles, one aimed at Atticus the intellectual and the other at Quintus the politician, suggesting two chief segments of his potential reading audience. Marcus concludes with an inspiring speech intended to show Atticus that philosophy demands engagement in politics and to convince Quintus that philosophic knowledge gives public oratory ethical grounding.

This thesis explores the possible impact of a postmaterialist value shift on the future of democracy in advanced industrial democratic countries. Research over the past few decades has questioned the responsiveness of representative democratic institutions in advanced industrial democracies to individual and communal needs in society. Radical democratic theorists have called for direct action, structural reform, and other social and political changes to make democracy "stronger." Increased education levels brought on by continued economic and physical security in advanced industrial societies has led to a change in the ability of citizens to access the political process. How the relationship between the citizen and the state is altered as a result of continued prosperity is a primary motivation for this research. Working with World Values Survey data, I examine individual and societal level relationships between postmaterial values and direct political participation and acceptance of participatory values. Empirical evidence supports the hypotheses that postmaterial values are positively associated with direct political participation and as the level of Postmaterialists increases in a given society the level of participatory behavior and acceptance of participatory values will also increase. Substantive analysis suggests that increase in the level of postmaterialism in a country will lead to increases in alternative political activity and other forms of direct participation. / Master of Arts

A growing alienation of citizens from politics is a current challenge to many modern democracies. Citizen participation is vital for democracy and engaging citizens becomes a central question within political science. At the same time the use of voting advice applications (VAAs) has increased steadily, particularly popular among young voters. This increasing usage indicates that VAAs fulfil young people’s needs, but what these needs are is unknown. To analyse what functions VAAs have for young voters, this study utilises data from interviews with high school students conducted after the Swedish Elections 2022. Furthermore, research on VAAs has focused on some aspects of voting behaviour such as their impact on citizens’ likelihood to vote. Relatively under-researched remain questions concerning VAAs and other forms of latent engagement with politics, such as deliberation over politics. This thesis seeks to examine these behaviours associated with VAA-use addressing young citizens in particular. The study finds that young people use VAAs with serious intentions to find political guidance. Moreover, VAAs can trigger deliberation over politics, but mainly during the election campaign.

This research seeks to answer why and which Chinese people go to the street to protest. I argue that different sectors of Chinese society differ from each other regarding their tendencies to participate in protest. In addition to their grievances, the incentives to participate in protest and their capacities to overcome the collective action problem all needed to be taken into account. Using individual level data along with ordinary binary logistic regression and multilevel logistic regression models, I first compare the protest participation of workers and peasants and find that workers are more likely than peasants to participate in protests in the context of contemporary China. I further disaggregate the working class into four subtypes according to the ownership of the enterprises they work for. I find that workers of township and village enterprises are more likely than workers of state-owned enterprises to engage in protest activities, while there is no significant difference between the workers of domestic privately owned enterprises and the workers of foreign-owned enterprises regarding their protest participation. Finally, I find that migrant workers, which refers to peasants who move to urban areas in search of jobs, are less likely than urban registered workers to participate in protests.

This paper studies the political participation (electoral) among non-EU immigrants in Sweden, via various socio-demographic, motivational, and relational factors. The theoretical frame is based on Verba et al.'s Civic Voluntarism model and previous research. Variables studied include language skills, education, income, occupation, political interest, feelings of belonging, and network memberships. The study relies on 115 survey data collected from municipalities such as Stockholm, Göteborg, Västerås, Örebro, Lindesberg, Lidköping, Vara,Trollhättan, Alingsås. As the paper’s dependent variable is binary (voted-not voted) the logistic regression method was chosen for analysis. The main findings indicate that language proficiency is a significant factor, positively affecting political participation of non-EU immigrants. This confirmed Pierre Bourdieu's notion of language as a societal resource, and how people that master it better get better opportunities. Economic factors, particularly education, occupation indicated positive connections with political participation. Motivational aspects, such as interest in political discussions and feelings of belonging to Sweden, demonstrated substantial correlations with voting behavior. Immigrants exhibiting interest in political discussions and a sense of connection with Swedish society displayed heightened levels of political activity, strengthening prior research by Verba et al. on sociopsychological factors. Group memberships, specifically involvement in interest groups and work-related associations, significantly influenced voting patterns. The main goal of the paper is to contribute modest insights into immigrants’ political participation in Sweden using quantitative methods. Suggestions for future research include qualitative methods for deeper insights and the exploration of additional influential factors to deepen the knowledge in this sphere.

This research analyzes the political and social engagement of UCF College of Business students in order to grasp a better understanding of what youth engagement looks like in the 21st century. Through the implementation of a survey, data is collected on the level of students' social involvement, political participation, and civic engagement – the three vital metrics of citizen engagement. These metrics are then split across the online and offline realm, as well as across key demographics of race, gender identity, political ideology, and party affiliation. Data is also collected about which social media platforms students engage most on, allowing us to understand what demographics of students are participating in society and where they are doing so.

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