An Experimental Test of the Role of Motives in Predicting Political Participation

为什么人们会在政治上变得活跃？ 目前的理论和研究对这一问题只提供了部分答案，因为它们忽视了公民参与的动机和目标。 为了填补这一显着的差距，在政治参与的文献，本研究测试的一般理论的政治动机。 该项目研究了政治参与的动机基础，以及这些动机如何与传统研究的变量（如教育和社会经济地位）相互作用，以提供对政治参与的更完整和细致入微的理解。人们可能决定积极参与政治的原因包括：1）表达他们的价值观，2）因为他们在政治结果中有自我利益的利害关系，3）表达他们的群体身份。 目前的研究测试了这些动机对公民积极参与政治意愿的影响。 将联系一个具有全国代表性的美国成年人样本，并要求他们完成一项调查。 在调查开始时，受访者阅读了一段文字，说人们应该参与政治。 然而，该段中论点的内容将有所不同。 受访者将被随机分配到四个有说服力的论点条件之一：1）专注于政治上积极表达自己的价值观的重要性，2）专注于政治上积极表达自我利益的重要性，3）专注于政治上积极表达自己的群体身份的重要性，以及4）没有有说服力的论点。 然后，他们将被问及这些动机对他们的重要程度，以及他们在不久的将来参与一系列政治活动的意愿，以及背景问题，以评估过去与参与有关的变量（例如，公民技能、空闲时间和财政资源）。 这使我能够测试每一个动机是否对参与有整体影响（相对于受访者的技能和资源），以及不同的动机是否更有可能影响参与不同具体活动的意愿。 除了提供对政治参与的更全面的理解外，这个项目对我们理解民主的有效性具有更广泛的影响。 民主的一个基本原则是“民治”。“为了使民主制度正常运作，人民必须积极参与政治进程，使他们的声音得到倾听。 如果只有一小部分公民选择参与，那么民主治理就会导致“部分人统治”，因为公职人员听到的是关于公民想要什么的扭曲信息。 拟议的研究有助于回答有关我们民主的代表性的问题，以及如何使其更具代表性的问题，通过展示能力和动机如何相互作用，导致选择被倾听的系统性偏见。因为这项工作有助于我们理解人们为什么选择参与政治，它对社会有重要的实际好处。 在选民投票率和公民参与普遍下降的证据之后，学者和教育工作者制定了备受瞩目的方案，如摇滚投票，儿童投票美国，以及州和地方公民教育课程，向年轻人灌输成为政治活跃的成年人的愿望。 拟议的研究通过展示公民参与的原因，揭示了灌输这种价值观的最佳方式。 有了这些知识，就可以制定方案，增加政治参与，充分实现民主理想。

Why do people become politically active? Current theories and research provide only a partial answer to this question, in that they ignore citizens' motivations and goals for participation. In order to fill this conspicuous gap in the political participation literature, the current study tests a general theory of political motivation. The project examines the motivational underpinnings of political participation, and how those motivations interact with traditionally-studied variables such as education and socioeconomic status to provide a more complete and nuanced understanding of political participation.Among the reasons people might decide to become active in politics are: 1) to express their values, 2) because they have a self-interested stake in a political outcome, and 3) to express their group identities. The current study tests the impact of these motives on citizens' willingness to become politically active. A nationally representative sample of American adults will be contacted and asked to complete a survey. At the beginning of the survey, respondents read a paragraph that states that people should become involved in politics. However, the content of the arguments in the paragraph will vary. Respondents will be randomly assigned to one of four persuasive argument conditions: 1) a focus on the importance of becoming politically active to express one's values, 2) a focus on the importance of becoming politically active for self-interested reasons, 3) a focus on the importance of becoming politically active to express one's group identity, and 4) no persuasive arguments. They will then be asked questions about the extent to which each of these motives is important to them, and how willing they would be to participate in a series of political activities in the near future, and background questions to assess variables that have been shown in the past to relate to participation (e.g., civic skills, free time, and financial resources). This enables me to test whether each motive has an overall impact on participation (relative to respondents' skills and resources), and whether different motives are more likely to impact willingness to participate in different specific activities. In addition to providing a more complete understanding of political participation, this project has broader implications for our understanding about the effectiveness of our democracy. A fundamental tenet of democracy is "rule by the people." For a democracy to function properly, the people must participate actively in the political process-to make their voices heard. If only a small proportion of the citizenry chooses to participate, then democratic governance leads to "rule by some of the people," as public officials hear a distorted message about what citizens want. The proposed research helps answer questions about the representativeness of our democracy, as well as questions about how to make it more representative, by showing how abilities and motivations interact to lead to systematic biases in who chooses to be heard. Because this work helps us understand why people choose to participate in politics, it has important practical benefits to society. In the wake of evidence of declines in voter turnout and civic participation more generally, scholars and educators have developed high profile programs such as Rock the Vote, Kids Voting USA, and state and local civics education curricula, to instill in young people the desire to become politically active adults. The proposed research reveals the best ways to instill such values, by showing the reasons why citizens participate. Armed with this knowledge, programs can be developed to increase political participation to fully realize democratic ideals.