This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cross, W. Articles by Young, L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Factors Influencing the Decision of the Young Politically Engaged To Join a Political Party

An Investigation of the Canadian Case

Department of Political Science, Carleton University, 691D Loeb Building, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa ON, Canada, K1S 0X1, bill_cross{at}carleton.ca

Lisa Young

Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, Social Sciences Tower, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4, lisa.young{at}ucalgary.ca

Situated in the literature concerning the decline of party members, and the dearth of young party members, this article considers the factors that influence the decision of a politically engaged young person to join, or not join, a political party. Making use of a unique dataset, we examine the attitudes and socialization of a large group of politically active young Canadians, a group that includes a significant number of both party members and non-party members. The article finds significant attitudinal differences towards political parties, with non-members highly suspicious of parties in terms of their general democratic performance, their efficacy in achieving social and political change and in the ability of grassroots members to influence party decision-making. We also find important socialization effects, the most significant being that young party members are considerably more likely than non-members to have a parent who is a party member. Recruitment through family members appears to be a principal path to party membership for young voters.

Key Words: interest groups • members • political participation and Canada • political parties

Party Politics, Vol. 14, No. 3, 345-369 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1354068807088126


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?