Seminar series Supportive political participation: the effects of serving as a poll worker Add to calendar 2024-01-18 17:00 2024-01-18 18:30 Europe/Rome Supportive political participation: the effects of serving as a poll worker Seminar room 2 Badia Fiesolana YYYY-MM-DD Print Share: Share on Facebook Share on BlueSky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email Scheduled dates Jan 18 2024 17:00 - 18:30 CET Seminar room 2, Badia Fiesolana Organised by Department of Political and Social Sciences In the context of the Comparative Politics Seminar Series, this sessions features a presentation by Associate Professor Noam Lupu (Vanderbilt University). Participatory theories of democracy posit that participating in the political process transforms individuals into better democratic citizens. But empirical research on the individual-level effects of participation focuses overwhelmingly on voting, with mixed results and debate about the mechanisms. This study focuses on a different form of political participation and leverages a natural experiment in Peru to address the challenge posed by certain types of individuals self-selecting into political participation. Prior to every election, Peruvian officials randomly select citizens to serve as poll monitors on Election Day. Following the January 2020 congressional elections, I conducted a two-wave panel survey of these randomly selected poll monitors and also randomly selected alternates. I find that participation as a poll worker increases an individual’s senses of empowerment and efficacy, but does not provoke political interest or knowledge. I also find that participation boosts support for and trust in democratic institutions, especially elections, and that it fosters future civic participation. I find some evidence that these effects endure, at least for several months, although my follow-up estimates are less precise. Consistent with participatory theories of democracy, participation of this kind does shape citizens. Related events Read more Seminar series 21 Feb 2024 16:30 - 17:30 CET Online meeting , Zoom Seminar series Department of Political and Social Sciences Digital politics and foreign interventions Speakers: Ashrakat Elshehawy (Stanford University)
Read more Seminar series 21 Feb 2024 16:30 - 17:30 CET Online meeting , Zoom Seminar series Department of Political and Social Sciences Digital politics and foreign interventions Speakers: Ashrakat Elshehawy (Stanford University)