Active Citizenship: A Comparative Study of Selected Young and Established Democracies. (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Steenekamp, Cindy; Loubser, Reinet
• Is Part Of: Politikon. Volume 43:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 117
• Page End: 134
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Political science -- Periodicals; South Africa -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 320.968
• DOI: 10.1080/02589346.2016.1155141
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0258-9346

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The period of democratisation known as the Third Wave resulted in widespread democratisation in diverse parts of the world. In this study we use data from the World Values Survey to measure five dimensions of active citizenship (considered important for democracy) in four countries of the Third Wave: Chile, Poland, South Africa and South Korea. We compare the Third Wave countries with two consolidated democracies (Germany and Sweden) as well as one unique case study (Turkey). We find that the oldest democracies tend to record high levels of participation as well as high levels of trust and tolerance. The newer democracies often have moderate to high scores as well, but still face various obstacles. Turkey faces the most challenges to active citizenship and democratic consolidation as it most often recorded low levels of participation and low levels of trust and tolerance.