Abstract
This chapter examines political participation and political culture. We ask, what are the main forms of political participation, what proportion of the population may be considered active in politics, and who are the active participants? Are the patterns of political participation changing? What are the causes of falling participation rates in the most basic form of political behaviour — voting — and how might this trend be reversed? We then turn to the beliefs and attitudes shaping political behaviour. We ask, what is political culture and more specifically, what are the main characteristics of the British political culture and how have these changed? Finally, we examine the controversial political debate concerning both the nature and meaning of citizenship in contemporary Britain.
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Further reading
On political participation, the major work is Parry, Moyser and Day (1992). For a useful discussion of changes in the 1990s, see Evans (in Dunleavy et al., 1997). An equivalent American study is Milbrath (1965). See also Putnam (2000) and Etzioni (1968). On political culture, the classic work is Almond and Verba (1965).
The British Social Attitudes surveys, produced annually since 1983, provide essential analyses of changes in British political culture: see, in particular, Curtice and Jowell (1995). For a discussion of citizenship and education, see Greenwood and Robins (2002).
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© 2003 Bill Coxall, Lynton Robins and Robert Leach
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Coxall, B., Robins, L., Leach, R. (2003). Ways of participating in politics. In: Contemporary British Politics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14821-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14821-9_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-73243-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-14821-9
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