THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF A SMALL COMMUNITY

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Band 20, Heft 1, S. 81-89

Abstract

An analysis of an ordered set of roles & positions in the pol'al structure of a small Ru community (pop 3,000) with some empirical examples of the interactional relationships of roleplayers to the top-leadership. 260 persons randomly selected were asked questions about: formal org membership; local & out-of-town newspaper consumption; length of residence in community; disposition to move away; associations with national, state, & local officials & employees; voting in Sch & city elections; party affiliation; & choices of most influential townspeople. Data were derived from intensive interviews & observation. Definitions: 'political structure'--involves a network of communications channels mediating policy messages; 'political role'--patterns of behavior characterizing pol'al activity within the pol'al structure; 'roles' --operationally defined in terms of (1) giving advice, (2) discussing public affairs with others, (3) taking an active part on issues, (4) attending meetings on public affairs. These behavioral practices were used to define 'role aggregates': advisors, talkers, listeners, workers, & nonparticipants. Of the 260 persons there were 20 advisors, 37 talkers, 33 listeners, 24 workers, & 132 non-participants. These role aggregates were characterized as follows: (1) Top Leadership: 3 individuals were felt to be most influential & at the core of the top leadership; they frequently held public office, had high SES, & were most active in community politics; their main concern was with 'social harmony' & 'political stability'; (2) Advisors had high educ, income, & media literacy; were highly concerned with community politics & were not disposed to leave the community; (3) Talkers resembled advisors, high ratio of F's; pol'ly active; (4) Listeners attended meetings but did little talking; had more educ & higher incomes than talkers but read less; they were non-joiners, & non-readers of local paper; (5) Workers took an active part on issues but did little discussing; read more than listeners but less than talkers; had low income; (6) Non-Participants had low educ &would like to leave the community. Authors conclude that the pol'al system involves independent decision-making at all levels in the structure for many policy matters; &the various role aggregates are treated diff'ly by the top leadership. T. L. Blair.