Suchergebnisse

Social Capital is created through the patterns of interdependence andsocial interaction that occur within a population, and we attempt to understand the participatory consequences of these patterns relative to the effects of human capital and organizational involvement. The production of social capital in personal networks was examined with the use of social network and participation data from the 1992 American study of the Cross National Election Project. The results suggest that politically relevant social capital (that is, social capital that facilitates political engagement) is generated in personal networks, that it is a by‐product of the social interactions with a citizen's discussants, and that increasing levels of politically relevant social capital enhance the likelihood that a citizen will be engaged in politics. Further, the production of politically relevant social capital is a function of the political expertise within an individual's network of relations, the frequency of political interaction within the network, and the size or extensiveness of the network. These results are sustained even while taking account of a person's individual characteristics and organizational involvement. Hence, the consequences of social relations within networks are not readily explained away on the basis of either human capital effects or the effects of organizational engagement.

"Während viele Studien auf der Individualebene eine fragmentierte, mehrdimensionale und nicht-kumulative Struktur politischer Partizipation aufzeigen, kommt dieser Vergleich von 22 Nationen Europas auf der Makroebene zum Ergebnis, dass verschiedene Formen politischer und sozialer Beteiligung sowohl kumulativ als auch eindimensional sind. So können im Hinblick auf die Partizipation Länderfamilien definiert werden. Da diese weitgehend mit jenen Länderfamilien übereinstimmen, die sich aus anderen Studien ergeben haben, eröffnet sich die Möglichkeit einer weiter reichenden Generalisierung, die vielfältige soziale, ökonomische und politische Ländercharakteristika umfasst. Darüber hinaus werden verschiedene theoretische Ansätze zur Erklärung von Ländergruppen und Partizipationsmustern überprüft mit dem Ergebnis, dass dies am besten mit einem Netz eng verwandter Indikatoren gelingt, namentlich der demokratischen und ökonomischen Entwicklung, der Regierungseffizienz, niedriger Korruption, hohen öffentlichen Ausgaben in den Bereichen Bildung und Gesundheit sowie Rechtstaatlichkeit. Diese Faktoren bilden ein sich gegenseitig verstärkendes System von Ursache und Wirkung, das in einer engen Verknüpfung mit dem Ausmaß an Beteiligung in verschiedenen Bereichen steht." (Autorenreferat)

In recent years, the study of political participation has benefited from growing attention to the study of social networks. Historically, most explanations for political participation have focused on characteristics of individuals. Although these individual-level correlates do a "pretty good" job of predicting who participates, incorporating social networks deepens our understanding of the factors that lead people to express voice in the democratic process. Even though the participation literature has long been split between scholars who favor a focus on individuals and others who emphasize social networks, the two approaches need not be in tension. Instead, they complement one another. The individualistic factors known to correlate with participation—including education, religious attendance, political knowledge, political conviction, and civic duty—all have a social dimension.

La place que tiennent les activités de loisir dans la vie des ouvriers est encore faible. Les loisirs ne semblent pas être pour eux un moyen privilégié de participation sociale.

There is a demand for the extension of participation in organizational decision-making. If realized, this should strengthen the stability of a democratic society through providing more people with a meaningful experience of democratic processes. At the same time, however, organizations are continuing to become bigger and their control more centralized. This trend is illustrated for Britain. It leads to an increasing remoteness of decision making on policy issues away from employees and members of the public. The effects of bureaucratization, which accompanies growth, exacerbate the remoteness. So far as participation is concerned, a growing contradiction is therefore emerging between social ideology and social reality, and this is not being given adequate recognition. The likely result is a weakening commitment to collective social objectives and a declining perceived legitimacy of social institutions. It is concluded that a resolution of this problem would be assisted by recognizing how the economic advantages of large-scale organization have been exaggerated and how there are organizational design possibilities for avoiding the socially less desirable aspects of bureaucracy.

How have social movements fared in an era marked by new enthusiasm for citizen participation? I identify several features of today's participatory landscape that make it different from earlier ones, including its scale and scope, its reliance on the Internet, and its relation to state power that is dispersed among multiple actors. Then I trace the mixed consequences of these features for social movement groups.

Virtual worlds provide an arena for children to express themselves and to interact with others. They are a natural and frequent part of children's life today. However, there is not much research on what actually happens in the online worlds and what kind of opportunities those worlds could offer to children and thereby enhance their social participation. The aim in this study is to explore the potential of virtual worlds for children's social participation. The empirical part of the study consists of interviews with 21 Finnish children, aged 11-15 years. By interviewing children, the authors examined their social practices in virtual worlds. In the study, the authors found seven types of social practice that make it possible for children to socialize with others, learn new things and skills, express themselves publicly and play in virtual worlds. Virtual worlds provide an arena for children to overcome the limitations of the real world. However, the freedom also has side effects: misbehavior.