Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science

政治参与一直是研究政治行为的学者感兴趣的话题。虽然政治领导人是通过公民参与政府来对其行为负责的，但很少有美国人在政治上活跃。尽管对参与进行了广泛的调查，但参与的一个方面，即个人对自己作为美国公民角色的信念，却被忽视了。这篇博士论文研究的重点是调查个人如何概念化他们的公民角色。该研究还将检验个人对自己和他人参与行为的解释。这些解释，连同公民的概念，有望提供对美国政治制度如何运作的关键见解。本文将采用两种研究方法来调查本课题。首先，q -方法论，一种排序和优先排序的技术，将被用来揭示个人对民主中公民角色的看法。根据这些调查结果，将编制一份调查问卷，并在明尼阿波利斯-圣。保罗，明尼苏达州，地区。预计这两种方法的结合将扩大我们对公民政治参与观念的理解。

Political participation has long been a topic of interest to students of political behavior. While it is through citizen involvement in government that political leaders are held accountable for their behavior, few Americans are politically active. Although participation has been investigated widely, one aspect of participation, individuals' beliefs about their role as American citizens, has been neglected. This doctoral dissertation research has as its focus an investigation of how individuals conceptualize their citizen roles. The research will also examine individuals' explanations of their own and others' participatory behavior. These explanations, along with the citizen conceptualizations, are expected to provide key insights into how the American political system functions. Two research methods will be employed to investigate the topic. First, Q-methodology, a sorting and prioritizing technique, will be used to uncover the perspectives individuals have about the role of citizens in a democracy. Drawing on these findings, a survey questionnaire will be developed and administered in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, area. It is expected that the combination of these two methodologies will expand our understanding of citizen perceptions of political participation.