Transcript Political Participation in the Age of Globalization:

Political Participation in the
Age of Globalization:
The role of the culturally situated self on the analysis of political protest
Erik H Cohen
University of Bar Ilan
Jose Valencia
University of the Basque Country
Definition
Power distance refers to the extent to
which members of a given society expect
and accept that power is distributed
unequally in society. In high power distance
societies, an emotional distance separates
subordinates from authorities. In low
power distance societies there is an
expectation of relative equitable
distribution of power.
The problem
What is the relationship between noninstitutional political participation or
political protest and the cultural
syndrome of power distance ?
Data from large-scale
international surveys
Third wave of the World Values Survey (1996)
Human Development Index (UNDP 1998)
Freedom House (1998)
Five specified types of
political protest
Sign a petition
Join a boycott
Attend a lawful demonstration
Join an unofficial strike
Occupy a building
Where 1 = never, 2 = might do; 3 = I have done.
Factor analysis
Factor Loadings
Signed a petition
Attended a lawful demonstration
.818
.830
.724
Joined an unofficial strike
.736
Occupied a building or factory
.618
Joined a boycott
Correlations matrix
1
2
3
4
5
Signed a petition
100 90 71 59 55
Joined a boycott
90 100 67 72 48
Attended a lawful demonstration
71 67 100 63 51
Joined an unofficial strike
59 72 63 100 63
Occupied a building or factory
55 48 51 63 100
Smallest space analysis (SSA)
Uni-dimensional / coefficient of alienation = .24
Smallest space analysis (SSA)
Two-dimensional / coefficient of alienation = .00
Profiles of political protest
A sample
Profile of political protest
Countries fitting
profile
petition
boycott
demonstration
strike
occupy building
6
5
5
3
3
(1) Sweden
5
4
5
4
3
(1) Basque
6
4
5
3
3
(2) Norway,
West Germany
5
4
4
3
4
(1) South Korea
6
4
4
3
3
(4) Australia,
East Germany,
Switzerland, USA
Partial Order (POSAC)
98% of the profile pairs were correctly represented
Partial Order (POSAC)
With categories of power distance as external variables
Conclusion / 1
1/The Factor Analysis verifies the strong link
between the types of political protest.
2/The Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) shows a clear
progression from the least involved and least
demanding form of activity to the most involved
and most demanding.
Conclusion / 2
3/The Multidimensional partial order analysis
classifies the various countries along a diagonal
from those with low levels of political
participation to those with higher levels.
4/Lawful demonstrations are found to play a pivotal
role in the typology of political protest, between
the less involved anonymous types of protest and
the more demanding and personally engaging
types.
Conclusion / 3
5/A correlation (partial mediation analysis) was
recognized between power distance and political
protest. This seems to indicate that participation
in these types of political protest is linked to the
culturally mediated self organized around the
distribution of power in society.
Thanks for your
attention