Within the academic and public debate on citizen involvement, several authors have pointed out that, rather than spurning from apathy, the contemporary tendency of increasing political disconnection may have more to do with transformations of citizens’ relationship with the public sphere towards more non-institutionalized and individualized forms of engagement (Dalton, 2004; Hooghe & Dejaeghere, 2007; Schudson, 2006). Low levels of civic and political activity are not necessarily indicative of complete disengagement, but could be accompanied by an interest and latent involvement stemming from either a “stand-by” monitorial attitude (Amnå & Ekman, 2014; Schudson, 1998) or from an attitude of distrust and need of critical supervising (Geissel, 2008; Rosanvallon, 2008). The present research aims to contribute with empirical evidence to a more articulate understanding of these civic and political orientations among young people in Europe. We examine, by means of latent profile analysis, different patterns of citizenship orientations identified by levels of civic and political participation, political interest and trust in institutions and in the political process. Furthermore, we investigate how these different groups can be characterized socio-demographically and in terms of political self-efficacy and value-based attitudes toward democracy, nationalism and tolerance. The study is part of the Catch-EyoU project and uses the Italian questionnaire data with a sample of 1554 respondents from two age groups – adolescents (15 – 19 years old, 50.3%) and young adults (20 – 26 years old, 49.7%). The results suggest the existence of different profiles of young European citizens – from completely disengaged, through passive monitorial and critical positionings, to the active “dutiful” or critical citizens. Our findings contribute to the theoretical conceptualizations of the different ways of relating to the political sphere among youth, which can be useful in the promotion of civic development.
Tzankova, I., Cicognani, E., Eckstein, K., Noack, P. (2017). Profiles of citizenship orientations among Italian youth.
Profiles of citizenship orientations among Italian youth
Tzankova, Iana
;Cicognani, Elvira;
2017
Abstract
Within the academic and public debate on citizen involvement, several authors have pointed out that, rather than spurning from apathy, the contemporary tendency of increasing political disconnection may have more to do with transformations of citizens’ relationship with the public sphere towards more non-institutionalized and individualized forms of engagement (Dalton, 2004; Hooghe & Dejaeghere, 2007; Schudson, 2006). Low levels of civic and political activity are not necessarily indicative of complete disengagement, but could be accompanied by an interest and latent involvement stemming from either a “stand-by” monitorial attitude (Amnå & Ekman, 2014; Schudson, 1998) or from an attitude of distrust and need of critical supervising (Geissel, 2008; Rosanvallon, 2008). The present research aims to contribute with empirical evidence to a more articulate understanding of these civic and political orientations among young people in Europe. We examine, by means of latent profile analysis, different patterns of citizenship orientations identified by levels of civic and political participation, political interest and trust in institutions and in the political process. Furthermore, we investigate how these different groups can be characterized socio-demographically and in terms of political self-efficacy and value-based attitudes toward democracy, nationalism and tolerance. The study is part of the Catch-EyoU project and uses the Italian questionnaire data with a sample of 1554 respondents from two age groups – adolescents (15 – 19 years old, 50.3%) and young adults (20 – 26 years old, 49.7%). The results suggest the existence of different profiles of young European citizens – from completely disengaged, through passive monitorial and critical positionings, to the active “dutiful” or critical citizens. Our findings contribute to the theoretical conceptualizations of the different ways of relating to the political sphere among youth, which can be useful in the promotion of civic development.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.