• Refine Query
  • Source
  • Publication year
  • to
  • Language
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 3
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • Tagged with
  • 23
  • 23
  • 6
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 3
  • 3
  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
11

A Multivariate Analysis of Regional Political Integration the Case of the Caribbean Free Trade Area and the Caribbean Community and Common Market, 1965-1983

Staten, Clifford Lee 05 1900 (has links)
The purpose of this study is three-fold. The first is to provide the reader with a review of the literature concerning the topic of regional political integration. The second purpose is to provide an operational definition of regional political integration which can be useful in the testing of hypotheses. Regional political integration is defined in terms of the regional decision-making process. Various levels of regional political integration are defined, operationalized, and identified. The levels from lowest to highest are as follows: regional promotion, regional information exchange, regional policy coordination, regional monitor, and regional authoritative decision-making. The third purpose of the study is to analyze the factors which are hypothesized to be correlated with and responsible for the changing levels of regional political integration.
12

Political Integration and Immigrants' Political Careers : A case study of first-generation Somali immigrant politicians in Malmö

Mbekeani, Thandikire January 2024 (has links)
This study explores the experiences of first-generation Somali immigrants working for Swedish political parties, shedding light on their challenges, opportunities, and contributions to the political sector. Through a qualitative case study approach, five semi-structured interviews were conducted. Tajfel and Turner's (1979) social identity theory and Crenshaw's (1989) intersectionality theory guided the study. The study revealed the significant barriers to entry that the participants face, including cultural and language barriers, prejudice and discrimination, and a lack of social and political networks. In addition, the study found that while the participants experienced exclusivity and resistance within the party, they also reported experiencing opportunities for political engagement, including support from fellow party members and advancement. Moreover, the findings suggest that political parties can play a crucial role in promoting immigrant political integration by providing opportunities for community engagement, training, and mentorship. However, the findings also highlight the need for more inclusive and culturally responsive policies and practices within political parties to better support the political participation and representation of immigrant politicians in political parties. This study adds to the literature by enhancing our understanding of the challenges of immigrant political integration.
13

族群衝突與政治整合:比利時與台灣之比較研究 / Ethnic Conflict and Political Integration : A Comparative Study of Belgium and Taiwan

劉華宗, Liu, Hua-tsung Unknown Date (has links)
東西冷戰結束後,族群衝突問題躍為國際政治社會最主要的焦點。比利時和台灣的族群衝突,共同點為少數族群為優勢族群,對多數族群進行強勢支配,多數族群在經過一段時間後,為爭取自身權益群起抗爭,少數族群為維護相對優勢地位及利益,對多數族群的抗爭起而反制,於是族群衝突問題加劇。族群衝突的結果,兩敗俱傷,於是乃有走上政治整合之路以解決之。 本文以權力分享途徑、政治體系環境因素、政治社會學的分析法與比較法,比較研究比利時和台灣的族群衝突問題,包括衝突的背景、衝突的事實,以及解決之道。研究結果,比利時的制度化政治整合,雖保障了族群權益,卻也造成族群隔閡的制度化與永久化。台灣未來解決族群衝突問題,有自然融合與政治制度化保障兩條途徑,兩者各有其利弊得失,惟從過去十餘年的發展歷程來看,未來採族群自然融合發展的可能性較高。
14

L’intégration des jeunes immigrants : une analyse des politiques à la jeunesse orientées vers la population immigrante au Québec

Elisdort, Richard E. 10 1900 (has links)
Ce mémoire porte sur l’intégration des jeunes immigrants au Québec. Il questionne la prise en compte de ces jeunes dans le cadre des politiques publiques de la province, à savoir celles de l’intégration des immigrants et la politique à la jeunesse du Québec. Le but est de savoir comment ces politiques abordent l’intégration des jeunes immigrants de première et de deuxième génération. À partir d’un tour d’horizon sur la littérature disponible, le travail permet de constater les différents problèmes d’intégration vécus par ces jeunes, notamment dans le milieu scolaire et sur le marché du travail. Les politiques dont il est question ici décrivent les obstacles et difficultés des jeunes immigrants. Elles proposent des mesures d’intégration pour les jeunes d’origine immigrante. La démarche qualitative est l’option privilégiée pour la réalisation de cette recherche de nature qualitative et exploratoire. Elle permet l’étude des documents de politique ci-mentionnés par rapport notre question de recherche. L’analyse documentaire est la principale méthode utilisée sur la base de laquelle, les dimensions de l’intégration des immigrants au Québec comme le français, les valeurs éducatives et l’emploi sont analysées en tant qu’enjeux soulevés par les documents de politique. Les constats qui en découlent permettent d’observer plusieurs résultats à propos des jeunes concernés par cette étude. Les résultats de l’étude démontrent que ces politiques mettent l’accent sur le français comme facteur incontournable de l’intégration. Ce faisant, elles insistent sur l’investissement du gouvernement dans l’apprentissage de cette langue par les jeunes immigrants. D’autres résultats révèlent que la grande majorité des jeunes nouveaux arrivants au Québec ces dernières années connaissent bien le français, d’ailleurs ils sont sélectionnés sur cette base. Cependant, cette majorité n’est pas intégrée sur le marché du travail. Par ailleurs, les politiques prônent une intervention auprès des jeunes axée sur la création par la société d’accueil des conditions favorables à leur intégration, tout en minimisant l’importance de leurs trajectoires migratoires ainsi que l’expérience acquise au pays d’origine. Ces prises en compte sont pourtant nécessaires à l’intégration. Au fond, les politiques proposent une intégration qui s’apparente à l’assimilation, ce qui est aux antipodes du modèle d’intégration interculturaliste adopté par le Québec. / This thesis focuses on the integration of young immigrants in Quebec, as it analyses their inclusion within public policies framework of the province, namely the integration of immigrants and Quebec’s youth policies. In short, our aim is to see how public policies in Quebec address the integration of young immigrant. A brief literature review enables us to observe lots of issues faced by young immigrants in the province, especially at school and on the labour market. The policies presented in this paper describe the different challenges young immigrants who are born of immigrant parents are facing in the province. They propose integration means for young people of immigrant origins. In this work which is in nature both exploratory and qualitative, we use naturally a qualitative approach. It facilitates the study of policy documents mentioned above relatively to our research question. The literature review is the primary tool upon which the dimensions of integration of immigrants in Quebec; such as French, educational values and employment, are analyzed as specific issues raised by the policy documents. Our findings enable us to observe several results regarding the young people targeted in this study. The main findings of the study show that these policies focus on French as essential factor of integration. Consequently, the government invests heavily in teaching this language to young immigrants. Other findings show that a vast majority of young newcomers to Quebec in recent years are familiar with French; as they are selected on this basis. However, this majority is not integrated in the labour market. The policies suggest that all interventions towards the youth should focus on creating favorable employment conditions for their integration, while downplaying their migration trajectory as well as their experience from their origin country. These are nevertheless considered necessary for integration.
15

L'intégration politique de l'Alsace de 1648 à 1870 / The politic's integration of Alsace since 1648 to 1870

Maillard, Georges-Frédéric 19 November 2016 (has links)
Attachée au Saint-Empire romain germanique au cours du dixième siècle, l’Alsace en demeura partie intégrante jusqu’en 1648, date à laquelle, au terme de la guerre de Trente Ans, elle fut cédée à la France par les traités de Westphalie. Mise en possession d’une province étrangère, cédée contre son gré, la monarchie française dut trouver les moyens d’intégrer l’Alsace au nouvel ensemble national. Après avoir, difficilement, réussi à affirmer sa souveraineté sur la province, la monarchie mit en place une politique d’intégration, progressive et respectueuse des privilèges régionaux. À partir de la Révolution française, l’assimilation de l’Alsace au reste de la France s’accéléra au point qu’à l’issue de la guerre 1870, c’est une province entièrement intégrée à la France qui revint à l’Allemagne. Dans le cadre de notre thèse, nous nous proposons donc d’étudier les politiques menées par la France en Alsace en vue de son intégration, en s’intéressant tout particulièrement aux institutions qui furent créées et à la façon dont les différentes législations, touchant notamment à l’administration, la justice, l’économie, la religion, la langue ou encore l’enseignement, furent imposées et appliquées à cet effet. / From the tenth century to the year 1648, Alsace remained a part of the Holy Roman Empire, until it cession to France according to the terms of the Peace of Westphalia, following the Thirty Years’ War. Having received a foreign and unwilling province, the Kingdom of France had to find ways to incorporate Alsace into its emerging national community. After having asserted with difficulty it sovereignty over the territory, the monarchy established a progressive integration policy, respectful of regional privileges. From the French Revolution onward, Alsace’s assimilation was greatly accelerated, to such an extent that it had become fully integrated to France until being conceded to the German Empire at the end of th Franco-Prussian War. This thesis reviews the various policies conducted by France toward Alsace’s integration during its rule. It examines particularly the role of specifically created public institutions, and the laws affecting administration, justice, economy, education, religion and language which were enacted and enforced to that end.
16

Přístup Velké Británie k politické integraci Evropy / Great Britain's Attitude towards the political integration in Europe

Kuchařová, Alžběta January 2011 (has links)
Britain's attitude towards the European integration has been an uneasy one since its' inception and it thus represents one of the spheres of British politics that has attracted the most attention and that has been one of the most divisive issues of the domestic politics. The British attitude has however responded to the dynamical development of the political integration in Europe. The aim of the thesis is to assess Britain's attitude towards the political integration in Europe and to prove that, despite its dynamical development, the elements of Euroscepticism prevail over the elements of Europeanization. With respect to the aim, the thesis is divided into three chapters. The first one explains the political integration and charts its development and defines the modern concept of Euroscepticism and Europeanization. The second chapter deals with Britain's attitude towards the European integration, its historical background and its development immediately after the Second World War. Substantial part of the chapter is devoted to the analysis of the British attitude towards the milestones of the political integration. The final chapter looks at the stance of the governments of Tony Blair and the current Conservative-led coalition on the political integration and compares them so as to study its development.
17

Migrants chinois à Paris : au-delà de l’ « intégration » : la formation politique d’une minorité / Chinese migrants in Paris. : Beyond “integration” : the political formation of a minority

Chuang, Ya-Han 25 November 2015 (has links)
Comment concevoir l'« intégration » à l’ère de la mondialisation ? Dans quelle mesure le mot « intégration » demeure-t-il encore pertinent pour les migrants eux-mêmes à notre époque dite « mondialisée » et « transnationale » ? En soulignant les caractéristiques normatives, désormais performatives et interactives, du concept d’« intégration », cette thèse se propose de fournir une réponse partielle à partir d'expériences de politisation des nouveaux migrants chinois dans la région parisienne. Grâce à une ethnographie multi-située dans plusieurs communes chinoises et plusieurs quartiers parisiens, nous reconstituons le processus dynamique d’intégration via des actions politiques collectives. Arrivés avant tout avec des motivations économiques, les migrants en viennent à s'impliquer dans divers quartiers, ce qui les conduit à se mobiliser et se confronter aux règles tacites du système sociopolitique français. À travers leur apprentissage politique à plusieurs niveaux, ils créent une conscience de minorité désirant une reconnaissance politique en tant que membre de la société française. Un tel désir n’affaiblit pas pour autant leur sentiment d’appartenance à la communauté chinoise. Plus leur statut social est élevé, plus les migrants semblent capables de s'approprier leur origine chinoise comme une ressource en vivant des expériences à la fois « transnationales » et « translocales ». L’accès à la citoyenneté est donc inégal au sein d’une même communauté et ne peut être mesurée qu'en croisant les origines migratoires et le statut social. / How to grasp the notion of “integration” in an era of globalization? To what extent does the word “integration” remain relevant for migrants themselves in “globalized” and “transnational” times? By emphasizing the normative, thereby performative and interactive, characteristic of the concept of “integration”, my dissertation proposes a partial answer to these questions based on the experiences of political mobilization of Chinese migrants in Paris. Drawing on a multi-sited ethnography in several towns in China and neighborhoods in Paris, I reconstitute Chinese migrants’ dynamic processes of integration through collective actions. Arriving in Paris with primarily economic motivations, their involvement in different neighborhoods pushes them to engage in a political process of mobilization while confronting the tacit rules of the French political system. Through their political learning process, they create a minority consciousness with a desire for their political recognition as members of the French political community. However, such a desire does not weaken their feelings of belonging to the Chinese community. The higher their social status is, the more the migrants prove capable of capitalizing on their ethnic origin and use it as a resource to live a “transnational” as well as “translocal” experience. The access to political rights and citizenship is thus unequal within the Chinese community and cannot be measured without crossing ethnic origins and social class positions.
18

A integração como fenômeno jurídico-político: uma leitura sobre a construção histórica da CECA / Integration as a legal-political phenomenon: a reading of the historical construction of the ECSC

Giannattasio, Arthur Roberto Capella 27 September 2013 (has links)
Pretendendo evidenciar uma leitura jurídico-política sobre o começo da integração europeia - iniciada por meio da fundação jurídica da CECA, esta Tese visa a responder à pergunta: quando, como e por meio de quais instituições, países europeus tradicionalmente opostos em termos militares estabeleceram entre si, após o término da Segunda Guerra Mundial, de maneira inédita e inaudita em sua História, um novo modo de relações responsável por tornar impossível e impensável a deflagração de nova Guerra regional? Para responder a essa pergunta, o presente trabalho assume a perspectiva de uma Pesquisa interdisciplinar em Direito, recorrendo não apenas ao Direito Positivo, mas também a outras áreas do conhecimento, tais como a Filosofia Política Antiga e Contemporânea e a História Contemporânea da Europa. O objetivo consiste em formular um aparato discursivo racional conceitual a partir de matriz de leitura fornecida pela Filosofia Política Antiga e Contemporânea para, em seguida, aplicá-lo sobre elementos da experiência histórica e jurídico-normativa positiva da CECA. A chave de leitura conceitual formada a partir de contribuições da Filosofia Política tem sua origem principalmente na aproximação das reflexões de POLÍBIO e de Claude LEFORT. O trabalho evidencia a importância de normas jurídicas institucionalmente previstas para lidar com oposições escalares na construção e na manutenção de um sistema de relações jurídico-Politicamente organizado, de maneira a que tensões entre distintas dimensões existenciais - institucionalmente absorvidas e encaminhadas - não possam significar a ruptura violenta desse sistema. Este aparato racional conceitual pode ser aplicado sobre os elementos da experiência histórica e normativa originária (Tratado de Paris de 1951) da CECA, o que permite diferenciar histórica e institucionalmente esta iniciativa em particular dos demais Projetos de Europa Unida do imediato pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial. Para os fundadores da CECA (Konrad ADENAUER, Jean MONNET e Robert SCHUMAN), um regime juridicamente regulado de simples cooperação política (Unionismo Europeu) não era considerado como suficiente para instaurar um novo modo de relações na Europa. Ao mesmo tempo, eles não visavam à construção jurídica de uma Unificação Política da Europa em torno de um Estado Federal Europeu (Federalismo Europeu). Nesse sentido, a CECA pode ser entendida como exemplo histórico singular de organização jurídico-Política de países europeus. Foram criados pelo Tratado da CECA órgãos comunitários supranacionais e intergovernamentais voltados a compartilhar com os Estados-Membros e com os respectivos povos europeus a formação do sentido normativo que deveria ser impresso sobre questões concretas sensíveis tornadas comuns. A nenhum deles foi atribuída uma posição central na nomogênese comunitária. A leitura jurídico-política da integração europeia iniciada com a CECA se mostra possível assim a partir da constatação de que a arquitetura das instituições do Tratado desta Organização Internacional mesmo das instituições que se referiam a normas jurídico-econômicas - foi responsável pela afirmação e pela conservação de um novo modo de relações entre os países europeus. Buscava-se, não um Estado Europeu, nem uma singela cooperação intergovernamental institucionalizada, mas um meio termo de organização jurídico-Política: um sistema de relações estruturado por um engenhoso mecanismo institucional orientado para promover, por meio de freios e contrapesos, de forma ininterrupta, oposições entre os participantes da vida comunitária. / Aiming to unveil a legal-political reading of the beginning of European integration - initiated by the legal foundation of the ECSC, this Thesis intends to answer the question: when, how and through which institutions, European countries traditionally opposed militarily established between themselves, after the end of the Second World War - unprecedentedly and unparalleled in their history, a new kind of relationship, which was responsible for making impossible and unthinkable the outbreak of new regional war? In order to answer this question, this study follows the path of an interdisciplinary Research in Law, resorting not only to Positive Law, but also to other fields of knowledge, such as Ancient and Contemporary Political Philosophy and Contemporary History of Europe. The objective is to read experience elements given by ECSCs History and positive legal rules through lens framed according to a rational conceptual apparatus grounded on Ancient and Contemporary Political Philosophy. The hermeneutical key framed according to Political Philosophy has its main origins in the conjoint discussion of POLYBIUS thought and Claude LEFORTs contributions. This work highlights the importance of legal institutions dealing with dimensional oppositions within the construction and maintenance of a legal-Politically organized relationships system, by which tensions institutionally absorbed and addressed - between different existential dimensions do not disrupte violently this system. This conceptual apparatus can be applied to understand ECSCs historical and and normative (Treaty of Paris, 1951) experience and helps differentiating from both a historical and institutional perspective this peculiar initiative from alternative European Union Projects immeadiately proposed after the Second World War. For ECSC founding fathers (Konrad ADENAUER, Jean MONNET and Robert SCHUMAN), a mere legal regime of political cooperation (European Unionism) was not regarded as sufficiently capable of creating a new kind of relationship in Europe. At the same time, they did not pursue a legal Political Unification of Europe within a European Federal State (European Federalism). In this sense, the ECSC can be seen as an unique historic example of a legal-Political organization of European countries. Supranational and intergovernmental community bodies were created by ECSCs Treaty in order to share with its own member-States and their respective peoples the construction of the normative sense which would conduct issues concerning sensitive common problems. To none of them was assigned a central position in Communitys normative process. A legal-political reading of European integration - started with the ECSC - seems possible because the institutional framework whithin its Treaty - even when referred to legal and economic rules - was responsible for the affirmation and preservation of a new kind of relationship between European countries. It was envisaged, neither a European State, nor an institutionalized intergovernmental cooperation, but a middle-way legal-Political organization: a relationship system erecte by an ingenious institutional mechanism conceived to promote - through checks and balances - nonstop oppositions between participants of Communitys life.
19

A integração como fenômeno jurídico-político: uma leitura sobre a construção histórica da CECA / Integration as a legal-political phenomenon: a reading of the historical construction of the ECSC

Arthur Roberto Capella Giannattasio 27 September 2013 (has links)
Pretendendo evidenciar uma leitura jurídico-política sobre o começo da integração europeia - iniciada por meio da fundação jurídica da CECA, esta Tese visa a responder à pergunta: quando, como e por meio de quais instituições, países europeus tradicionalmente opostos em termos militares estabeleceram entre si, após o término da Segunda Guerra Mundial, de maneira inédita e inaudita em sua História, um novo modo de relações responsável por tornar impossível e impensável a deflagração de nova Guerra regional? Para responder a essa pergunta, o presente trabalho assume a perspectiva de uma Pesquisa interdisciplinar em Direito, recorrendo não apenas ao Direito Positivo, mas também a outras áreas do conhecimento, tais como a Filosofia Política Antiga e Contemporânea e a História Contemporânea da Europa. O objetivo consiste em formular um aparato discursivo racional conceitual a partir de matriz de leitura fornecida pela Filosofia Política Antiga e Contemporânea para, em seguida, aplicá-lo sobre elementos da experiência histórica e jurídico-normativa positiva da CECA. A chave de leitura conceitual formada a partir de contribuições da Filosofia Política tem sua origem principalmente na aproximação das reflexões de POLÍBIO e de Claude LEFORT. O trabalho evidencia a importância de normas jurídicas institucionalmente previstas para lidar com oposições escalares na construção e na manutenção de um sistema de relações jurídico-Politicamente organizado, de maneira a que tensões entre distintas dimensões existenciais - institucionalmente absorvidas e encaminhadas - não possam significar a ruptura violenta desse sistema. Este aparato racional conceitual pode ser aplicado sobre os elementos da experiência histórica e normativa originária (Tratado de Paris de 1951) da CECA, o que permite diferenciar histórica e institucionalmente esta iniciativa em particular dos demais Projetos de Europa Unida do imediato pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial. Para os fundadores da CECA (Konrad ADENAUER, Jean MONNET e Robert SCHUMAN), um regime juridicamente regulado de simples cooperação política (Unionismo Europeu) não era considerado como suficiente para instaurar um novo modo de relações na Europa. Ao mesmo tempo, eles não visavam à construção jurídica de uma Unificação Política da Europa em torno de um Estado Federal Europeu (Federalismo Europeu). Nesse sentido, a CECA pode ser entendida como exemplo histórico singular de organização jurídico-Política de países europeus. Foram criados pelo Tratado da CECA órgãos comunitários supranacionais e intergovernamentais voltados a compartilhar com os Estados-Membros e com os respectivos povos europeus a formação do sentido normativo que deveria ser impresso sobre questões concretas sensíveis tornadas comuns. A nenhum deles foi atribuída uma posição central na nomogênese comunitária. A leitura jurídico-política da integração europeia iniciada com a CECA se mostra possível assim a partir da constatação de que a arquitetura das instituições do Tratado desta Organização Internacional mesmo das instituições que se referiam a normas jurídico-econômicas - foi responsável pela afirmação e pela conservação de um novo modo de relações entre os países europeus. Buscava-se, não um Estado Europeu, nem uma singela cooperação intergovernamental institucionalizada, mas um meio termo de organização jurídico-Política: um sistema de relações estruturado por um engenhoso mecanismo institucional orientado para promover, por meio de freios e contrapesos, de forma ininterrupta, oposições entre os participantes da vida comunitária. / Aiming to unveil a legal-political reading of the beginning of European integration - initiated by the legal foundation of the ECSC, this Thesis intends to answer the question: when, how and through which institutions, European countries traditionally opposed militarily established between themselves, after the end of the Second World War - unprecedentedly and unparalleled in their history, a new kind of relationship, which was responsible for making impossible and unthinkable the outbreak of new regional war? In order to answer this question, this study follows the path of an interdisciplinary Research in Law, resorting not only to Positive Law, but also to other fields of knowledge, such as Ancient and Contemporary Political Philosophy and Contemporary History of Europe. The objective is to read experience elements given by ECSCs History and positive legal rules through lens framed according to a rational conceptual apparatus grounded on Ancient and Contemporary Political Philosophy. The hermeneutical key framed according to Political Philosophy has its main origins in the conjoint discussion of POLYBIUS thought and Claude LEFORTs contributions. This work highlights the importance of legal institutions dealing with dimensional oppositions within the construction and maintenance of a legal-Politically organized relationships system, by which tensions institutionally absorbed and addressed - between different existential dimensions do not disrupte violently this system. This conceptual apparatus can be applied to understand ECSCs historical and and normative (Treaty of Paris, 1951) experience and helps differentiating from both a historical and institutional perspective this peculiar initiative from alternative European Union Projects immeadiately proposed after the Second World War. For ECSC founding fathers (Konrad ADENAUER, Jean MONNET and Robert SCHUMAN), a mere legal regime of political cooperation (European Unionism) was not regarded as sufficiently capable of creating a new kind of relationship in Europe. At the same time, they did not pursue a legal Political Unification of Europe within a European Federal State (European Federalism). In this sense, the ECSC can be seen as an unique historic example of a legal-Political organization of European countries. Supranational and intergovernmental community bodies were created by ECSCs Treaty in order to share with its own member-States and their respective peoples the construction of the normative sense which would conduct issues concerning sensitive common problems. To none of them was assigned a central position in Communitys normative process. A legal-political reading of European integration - started with the ECSC - seems possible because the institutional framework whithin its Treaty - even when referred to legal and economic rules - was responsible for the affirmation and preservation of a new kind of relationship between European countries. It was envisaged, neither a European State, nor an institutionalized intergovernmental cooperation, but a middle-way legal-Political organization: a relationship system erecte by an ingenious institutional mechanism conceived to promote - through checks and balances - nonstop oppositions between participants of Communitys life.
20

Specialisation of political participation in Europe : a comparative analysis

de Rooij, Eline A. January 2009 (has links)
This thesis answers the question how and why do individuals specialise in different types of political participation? By examining the degree to which individuals concentrate their political activities within one type of political participation, or spread them out across many. This thesis complements previous research on rates of political participation; and adapts and extends existing theories of political participation to explain differences in the degree of specialisation between different groups in society and between countries. Using data from the European Social Survey, covering as many as 21 European countries, and applying a range of different statistical methods, I distinguish four types of political participation: voting, conventional and unconventional political participation and consumer politics. I show that in countries with higher levels of socio-economic development, more democratic experience, and an increased presence of mobilising agents, the degree to which individuals concentrate their political activities within one type of political participation is higher, regardless of the accessibility and responsiveness of their political institutions. This is partly due to the fact that these countries have a higher educated population and that higher educated individuals specialise more. Specialisation also varies along the lines of other socio-demographic divisions, such as those based on gender. Moreover, I show that in contexts in which political issues are salient, such as during an election year, individuals are more likely to engage in non-electoral types of political participation if they also vote. This implies that specialisation is reduced during times of country-wide political mobilisation. The final finding of my thesis is that non-Western immigrants tend to concentrate their political activities less within one type of political participation than the majority population in Western Europe. Western immigrants specialise quite differently, suggesting differences in the way in which they are mobilised. As well as providing an important contribution to the study of political participation, these findings are relevant to discussions regarding citizen engagement and representation.

Page generated in 0.1248 seconds