An important component of people’s perceptions of politics is their view of how open and responsive the political system is to influence by the public. This can be thought of as a key facet of the efficacy of the political system, and views on it are referred to as views on external political efficacy. ThisContinue reading “Survey Variable: External Political Efficacy”
Author Archives: joegreenwoodhau
Survey Variable: Social Dimension of Ideology
By contrast with their generally left-leaning positions on questions relating to the economic dimension of ideology, people give less consistent answers in relation to the social dimension of ideology. As we can see from Figure 1 (above, using weighted data), people are strong divided over the use of the death penalty (panel B), quite dividedContinue reading “Survey Variable: Social Dimension of Ideology”
Survey Variable: Economic Dimension of Ideology
People’s ideological beliefs are an important factor in their political engagement and can influence not only whether but also how they get involved in politics. Such Ideological beliefs are often organised along two dimensions relating to economic views (state intervention and redistribution versus private enterprise and inequality) and social views (authority versus liberty), and theContinue reading “Survey Variable: Economic Dimension of Ideology”
Survey Variable: Perceived Private Education of MPs
Beyond perceptions of their own engagement with politics, people also have perceptions of politics itself. These might relate to how open, responsive, or efficacious the political system is, to the competence of specific politicians, or to the characteristics of politicians overall. Such perceptions can intersect with people’s perceptions of privilege, for instance if they thinkContinue reading “Survey Variable: Perceived Private Education of MPs”
Survey Variable: Political Knowledge
In addition to their appraisals of their own political knowledge, people’s actual political knowledge can also be important for political participation. As with self-perceived political knowledge and understanding (or lack thereof), actual political knowledge (or lack thereof) might motivate (or inhibit) political action. This might be in terms of being able to converse with othersContinue reading “Survey Variable: Political Knowledge”
Survey Variable: Types of Property Owned
As mentioned when considering income, that concept needs to be distinguished from wealth, which is the assets that one holds (less one’s liabilities). Assets might take the form of savings, investments, art or, most commonly, property. The latter was asked about in the survey, and respondents indicated whether they owned five types of property: residentialContinue reading “Survey Variable: Types of Property Owned”
Survey Variable: State Benefits Received
Beyond income and ability to keep up with bills, a key indicator of economic capital is whether someone qualifies for support from the state. In the United Kingdom, the state offers a range of different benefits for people who fall below certain financial thresholds or are in circumstances that qualify them for support. Receipt ofContinue reading “Survey Variable: State Benefits Received”
Survey Variable: Keeping up with Bills
When thinking about people’s economic circumstances we need to consider not only their earnings and assets but also their liabilities, such as the bills and payments that they have to make. It is possible for someone with a high income or a great deal of wealth to nevertheless face financial difficulties if they have highContinue reading “Survey Variable: Keeping up with Bills”
Survey Variable: Income
There are many different facets of economic capital but one of the key distinctions is between income and wealth. The former is the amount of money that one receives each year, be it from a wage, a pension, or investments. By contrast, the latter covers the accumulated assets that one holds, be they in theContinue reading “Survey Variable: Income”
Survey Variable: Perceived Understanding and Knowledge of Politics
Two possible, related barriers to people’s engagement with, and participation in, politics are how easy they find it to understand and how much they think they know about it. If politics is seen as complicated and involving knowledge that is not readily available to them in their day-to-day lives (or that they do not thinkContinue reading “Survey Variable: Perceived Understanding and Knowledge of Politics”
Privilege and Participation 