Within a US-specific context, I would eschew these comparisons to a notional average and use the following levels of participation:
0 = indifferent to politics and ignorant of current events 1 = attentive to current events, but does not vote 2 = votes in presidential elections, but irregularly otherwise 3 = always votes 4 = always votes and contributes to political causes 5 = always votes, contributes, and engages in political activism during election seasons 6 = always votes, contributes, and engages in political activism both during and between election seasons 7 = runs for public office
I suspect that the average US citizen of voting age is a 2, but I don’t have data to back that up, and I am not motivated to research it. I am a 4, so I do indeed think that I am above average.
Those categories could probably be modified pretty easily to match a parliamentary system by leaving out the reference to presidential elections and just having “votes irregularly” and “always votes”
Editing to add—for mandatory voting jurisdictions, include a caveat that “spoiled ballot = did not vote”
Personally, I’m not sure I necessarily consider the person who runs for public office to be at a higher level of participation than the person who works for them.
I agree denotationally with that estimate, but I think you’re putting too much emphasis on voting in at least the 0-4 range. Elections (in the US) only come up once or exceptionally twice a year, after all. If you’re looking for an estimate of politics’ significance to a person’s overall life, I think you’d be better off measuring degree of engagement with current events and involvement in political groups—the latter meaning not only directed activism, but also political blogs, non-activist societies with a partisan slant, and the like.
For example: do you now, or have you ever, owned a political bumper sticker?
There might be people who don’t always (or even usually) vote yet they contribute to political causes/engage in political activism, for certain values of “political” at least.
I had not before encountered this form of protest. If I were living in a place with mandatory voting and anonymous ballots, I would almost surely write my name on the ballot to spoil it.
I had not before encountered this form of protest. If I were living in a place with mandatory voting and anonymous ballots, I would almost surely write my name on the ballot to spoil it.
I have never actually spoiled a ballot in a municipality-or-higher-level election (though voting for a list with hardly any chance whatsoever of passing the election threshold has a very similar effect), but in high school I did vote for Homer Simpson as a students’ representative, and there were lots of similarly hilarious votes, including (IIRC) ones for God, Osama bin Laden, and Silvio Berlusconi.
Within a US-specific context, I would eschew these comparisons to a notional average and use the following levels of participation:
0 = indifferent to politics and ignorant of current events
1 = attentive to current events, but does not vote
2 = votes in presidential elections, but irregularly otherwise
3 = always votes
4 = always votes and contributes to political causes
5 = always votes, contributes, and engages in political activism during election seasons
6 = always votes, contributes, and engages in political activism both during and between election seasons
7 = runs for public office
I suspect that the average US citizen of voting age is a 2, but I don’t have data to back that up, and I am not motivated to research it. I am a 4, so I do indeed think that I am above average.
Those categories could probably be modified pretty easily to match a parliamentary system by leaving out the reference to presidential elections and just having “votes irregularly” and “always votes”
Editing to add—for mandatory voting jurisdictions, include a caveat that “spoiled ballot = did not vote”
Personally, I’m not sure I necessarily consider the person who runs for public office to be at a higher level of participation than the person who works for them.
I agree denotationally with that estimate, but I think you’re putting too much emphasis on voting in at least the 0-4 range. Elections (in the US) only come up once or exceptionally twice a year, after all. If you’re looking for an estimate of politics’ significance to a person’s overall life, I think you’d be better off measuring degree of engagement with current events and involvement in political groups—the latter meaning not only directed activism, but also political blogs, non-activist societies with a partisan slant, and the like.
For example: do you now, or have you ever, owned a political bumper sticker?
Maybe: “How frequently do you visit websites/read media that have an explicit political slant?”
There might be people who don’t always (or even usually) vote yet they contribute to political causes/engage in political activism, for certain values of “political” at least.
I had not before encountered this form of protest. If I were living in a place with mandatory voting and anonymous ballots, I would almost surely write my name on the ballot to spoil it.
I do and I do. :)
I have never actually spoiled a ballot in a municipality-or-higher-level election (though voting for a list with hardly any chance whatsoever of passing the election threshold has a very similar effect), but in high school I did vote for Homer Simpson as a students’ representative, and there were lots of similarly hilarious votes, including (IIRC) ones for God, Osama bin Laden, and Silvio Berlusconi.