Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T20:47:02.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Economic inequality and its asymmetric effect on civic engagement: evidence from post-communist countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2012

Ekrem Karakoc
Ekrem Karakoc*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Binghamton University, SUNY
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The global increase in inequality raises concerns among scholars and policy-makers. However, limited evidence exists to identify how inequality affects citizens’ behavior. This study explores the effects of economic inequality on participation in civil society associations by testing hypotheses derived from resource and conflict theories. Using a multilevel Poisson model in 18 post-communist countries, this study finds that inequality has a nonlinear effect on civil society. Economic inequality has a drastically demobilizing effect on associational participation in countries with lower income inequality; meanwhile high inequality has a slightly weak mobilizing effect on associational participation. Further tests show that the effect of inequality varies across different socioeconomic groups, but that the poor are most affected.

Keywords

inequalitydemocracypolitical behaviorcivil societypost-communism
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , July 2013 , pp. 197 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © European Consortium for Political Research 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

a

Ekrem Karakoc has published in World Politics (2007), Comparative Politics (2011), Comparative Political Studies (forthcoming) and Electoral Studies (forthcoming).

References

Acemoglu, D.Robinson, J.A. (2006), Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Alesina, A.La Ferrara, E. (2000), ‘Participation in heterogeneous communities’, Quarterly Journal of Economics 115(3): 847–904.Google Scholar
Almond, G.Verba, S. (1965), The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations, Boston: Little, Brown and Co.Google Scholar
Anderson, C.J.Paskeviciute, A. (2006), ‘How linguistic and ethnic heterogeneity influence the prospects for civil society: a comparative study of citizenship behavior’, Journal of Politics 68(4): 783–802.Google Scholar
Anderson, C.J.Beramendi, P. (2008), ‘Income, inequality, and electoral participation’, in P. Beramendi and C.J. Anderson (eds), Democracy, Inequality and Representation, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Anderson, C.J., Singer, M.W. (2008), ‘The sensitive left and the impervious right: multilevel models and the politics of inequality, ideology, and legitimacy in Europe’, Comparative Political Studies 41(4/5): 564–599.Google Scholar
Armony, A.C. (2004), The Dubious Link: Civic Engagement and Democratization. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Ashwin, S. (1999), Russian Workers: The Anatomy of Patience, Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Bahry, D.Lipsmeyer, C. (2001), ‘Economic adversity and public mobilization in Russia’, Electoral Studies 20: 371–398.Google Scholar
Barnes, S.Kaase, M. (1979), Political Action, Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies, Beverly Hill: Sage.Google Scholar
Berman, S. (1997), ‘Civil society and the collapse of the Weimar Republic’, World Politics 49: 401–429.Google Scholar
Bernhard, M. (1996), ‘Civil society after the first transition: dilemmas of post-communist democratization in Poland and beyond’, Communist and Post-Communist Studies 29(3): 309–330.Google Scholar
Bernhard, M.Karakoc, E. (2007), ‘Civil society and the legacies of dictatorship’, World Politics 59(4): 539–567.Google Scholar
Blau, J.R.Blau, P.M. (1982), ‘The cost of inequality: metropolitan structure and violent crime’, American Sociological Review 47: 114–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boix, C. (2003), Democracy and Redistribution, New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, S., Donovan, T.Hanneman, R. (2003), ‘Art for democracy's sake? Group membership and political engagement in Europe’, Journal of Politics 65(4): 1111–1129.Google Scholar
Brandolini, A.Smeeding, T.M. (2006), ‘Patterns of economic inequality in western democracies: some facts on levels and trends’, PS: Political Science and Politics 39(1): 21–26.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, J., Grootaert, C.Milanovic, B. (1999), Poverty and Social Assistance in Transition Countries, New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Bratton, M. (2008), ‘Poor people and democratic citizenship in Africa’, in A. Krishna (ed.), Poverty, Participation and Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Campos, N.Kuzeyev, V.S. (2007), ‘On the dynamics of ethnic fractionalization’, American Journal of Political Science 51(3): 620–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, S.Kopstein, J. (2001), ‘Bad civil society’, Political Theory 29(6): 837–865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, C.J.Dawson, M.C. (1993), ‘Neighborhood poverty and African American politics’, American Political Science Review 87(2): 286–302.Google Scholar
Costa, D.Kahn, M. (2003), ‘Civic engagement and community heterogeneity: an economist's perspective’, Perspectives on Politics 1: 103–111.Google Scholar
Curtis, J., Douglas, B.Grabb, E.G. (2001), ‘Nations of joiners: explaining voluntary association membership in democratic societies’, American Sociological Review 66(6): 783–805.Google Scholar
Curtis, J., Grabb, E.Baer, D. (1992), ‘Voluntary association membership in fifteen countries: a comparative analysis’, American Sociological Review 57: 139–152.Google Scholar
Dalton, R.J. (2002), Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Western Democracies, Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers.Google Scholar
della Porta, D.Andretta, M. (2002), ‘Social movements and public administration: spontaneous citizens’ committees in Florence’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 26(2): 244–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
della Porta, D.Diani, M. (1999), Social Movements: An Introduction, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Diamond, L. (1999), Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation, Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowley, K.M.Silver, B.D. (2002), ‘Social capital, ethnicity and support for democracy in the post-communist states’, Europe-Asia Studies 54(4): 505–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekiert, G.Kubik, J. (1998), ‘Contentious politics in new democracies: East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, 1989–93’, World Politics 50(4): 547–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, B.McCarthy, J. (2006), ‘Resources and social movement mobilization’, in D.A. Snow, S.A. Soule and H. Kriesi (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Fagan, A. (2005), ‘Taking stock of civil-society development in post-communist Europe: Evidence from the Czech Republic’, Democratization 12(4): 528–547.Google Scholar
Finkel, S.E.Muller, E. (1998), ‘Rational choice and the dynamics of collective political action: evaluating alternative models with panel data’, American Political Science Review 92(1): 37–49.Google Scholar
Firebaugh, G. (2003), The New Geography of Global Income Inequality, Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Foley, M.W.Edwards, B. (1996), ‘The paradox of civil society’, Journal of Democracy 7: 38–52.Google Scholar
Gurr, T.R. (1970), Why Men Rebel, Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Guth, J.L.Green, J.C. (1990), ‘Politics in a new key: religiosity and participation among political activists’, Western Political Quarterly 43(1): 153–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, P.A. (2004), ‘The role of government and the distribution of social capital’, in R. Putnam (ed.), Democracies in Flux, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hamby, R.R. (1986), ‘Coffee and conflict in Columbia: spatial, temporal and class patterns of La Violencia’, in Manus I. Midlarsky (ed.), Inequality and Contemporary Revolutions. Denver, CO: University of Denver.Google Scholar
Hansen, S.B. (1997), ‘Talking about politics: gender and contextual effects on political proselytizing’, Journal of Politics 59(1): 73–103.Google Scholar
Heyns, B. (2005), ‘Emerging inequalities in central and eastern Europe’, Annual Review of Sociology 31: 163–197.Google Scholar
Howard, M.M. (2003), The Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Huckfeldt, R.R. (1979), ‘Political participation and the neighborhood social context’, American Journal of Political Science 23: 579–592.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R.Catterberg, G. (2003), ‘Trends in political action: the developmental trend and the post-honeymoon decline’, International Journal of Comparative Sociology 43: 46–76.Google Scholar
Javeline, D. (2003), ‘The role of blame in collective action: evidence from Russia’, The American Political Science Review 97(1): 107–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karl, T.L. (2000), ‘Economic inequality and democratic instability’, Journal of Democracy 11(1): 149–156.Google Scholar
Kaufman, R.R. (2009), ‘The political effects of inequality in Latin America: some inconvenient facts’, Comparative Politics 41(April): 359–379.Google Scholar
Kenworthy, L.Pontusson, J. (2005), ‘Rising inequality and the politics of redistribution in affluent countries’, Perspectives on Politics 3(3): 449–471.Google Scholar
Krishna, A. (2008), ‘Do poor people care less for democracy? Testing individual-level assumptions with individual-level data’, in A. Krishna (ed.), Poverty, Participation and Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kurtz, M.J. (2004), ‘The dilemmas of democracy in the open economy: lessons from Latin America’, World Politics 56(2): 262–302.Google Scholar
Levi, M. (1996), ‘Social and unsocial capital’, Politics & Society 24(1): 45–55.Google Scholar
Lichbach, M.I. (1989), ‘An evaluation of “does economic inequality breed political conflict” studies’, World Politics 41(4): 431–470.Google Scholar
Lichbach, M.I. (1990), ‘Will rational people rebel against inequality? Samson's choice’, American Journal of Political Science 34(4): 1049–1076.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) Key figures. Retrieved 1 November 2007 from http://www.lisproject.org/keyfigures.htmGoogle Scholar
Marshall, M., Jaggers, K. 2002. ‘Polity IV Dataset Users’ Manual’. Retrieved 23 December 2005 from www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/polity.Google Scholar
Mettler, S. (2002), ‘Bringing the state back in to civic engagement: policy feedback effects of the G.I. Bill for World War II veterans’, American Political Science Review 96(2): 351–365.Google Scholar
McVeigh, R. (2006), ‘Structural influences on activism and crime: identifying the social structure of discontent’, American Journal of Sociology 112: 510–566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midlarsky, M.I. (1982), ‘Scarcity and inequality: prologue to the onset of mass revolution’, The Journal of Conflict Resolution 26(1): 3–38.Google Scholar
Milanovic, B. (1998), Income, Inequality, and Poverty during the Transition from Planned to Market Economy, Washington: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Milanovic, B. (2005), Worlds Apart: Measuring International and Global Inequality, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Muller, E.N.Seligson, M. (1987), ‘Inequality and insurgency’, American Political Science Review 81(2): 425–452.Google Scholar
Muller, E.N., Dietz, H.A.Finkel, S.E. (1991), ‘Discontent and the expected utility of rebellion: the case of Peru’, American Political Science Review 85: 1261–1281.Google Scholar
Norris, P. (2002), Democratic Phoenix, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Paxton, P. (2002), ‘Social capital and democracy: an interdependent relationship’, American Sociological Review 67: 254–277.Google Scholar
Przeworski, A. (1991), Democracy and the market: political and economical reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. (1993), Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Roberts, M.K. (2006), ‘Populist mobilization, socio-political conflict, and grass-roots organization in Latin America’, Comparative Politics 38(2): 127–148.Google Scholar
Rotolo, T. (2000), ‘Town heterogeneity, and affiliation: a multilevel analysis of voluntary association membership’, Sociological Perspectives 43: 271–289.Google Scholar
Raudenbush, S.Bryk, A. (2002), Hierarchical Linear Models, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Seligson, A. (1999), ‘Civic associations and democratic participation in Central America: a test of the Putnam's thesis’. Comparative Political Studies 32(3): 342–362.Google Scholar
Schofer, E.Fourcade-Gourinchas, M. (2001), ‘The structural contexts of civic engagement: voluntary association membership in comparative perspective’, American Sociological Review 66: 806–828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solt, F. (2008), ‘Economic inequality and democratic political engagement’, American Journal of Political Science 52(1): 48–60.Google Scholar
Steenbergen, M.R.Jones, B.S. (2002), ‘Modeling multilevel data structures’, American Journal of Political Science 46: 218–237.Google Scholar
Stolle, D. (1998), ‘Bowling together, bowling alone: the development of generalized trust in voluntary associations’, Political Psychology 19(3): 497–525.Google Scholar
Stolle, D.Rochon, T.R. (1998), ‘Are all associations alike?’, American Behavioral Scientist 42(10): 47–65.Google Scholar
Tarrow, S. (1996), ‘Making social science work across space and time: a critical reflection on Robert Putnam's making democracy work’, American Political Science Review 90(2): 389–397.Google Scholar
Tilly, C. (1998), Durable Inequality, Los Angeles: University California Press.Google Scholar
Uslaner, E.M. (2002), The Moral Foundations of Trust, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Uslaner, E.Brown, M. (2005), ‘Inequality, trust and civic engagement’, American Politics Research 33(6): 868–894.Google Scholar
Verba, S., Schlozman, K.L., Brady, H.E. (1995), Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, Cambridge: Harvard University.Google Scholar
World Bank Group. ‘World Development Indicators Online (1960–2005)’. Retrieved 14 May 2006 from http://publications.worldbank.org/WDI/Google Scholar
Wuthnow, R. (2004), ‘The United States: Bridging the Privileged and Marginalized’, in R. Putnam (ed.), Democracies in Flux, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Karokoc supplementary material

Appendix

Download Karokoc supplementary material(File)
File 32.3 KB