Active Citizenship: Participatory Patterns of European Youth

Authors

  • Ekaterina Enchikova Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto
  • Tiago Neves Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto
  • Mai Beilman Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu
  • Shakuntala Banaji Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Vassilis Pavlopoulos Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Pedro Daniel Ferreira Porto, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-3146

Keywords:

active citizenship, civic participation, political participation, participatory patterns

Abstract

 

 Purpose: Treating Active Citizenship as a sum of behavioral indicators requires certain prerequisites that can be difficult to meet in practice (e.g. structural validity and measurement invariance). We explore a different approach, in which we treat Active Citizenship as a categorical, rather than a linear, construct. 

Design: Based on longitudinal data from eight European countries, we discovered the patterns’ structure based on the first-year data and then replicated the analysis on the second-year sample to confirm it. Next, we explored the change between the years and its’ trajectories. We compared countries profiles and their change. Finally, we used multinomial logistic regression to explore the most common trajectories. 

Findings: We describe six patterns: fighter, activist, volunteer, backer, online and indifferent. The pattern structure is replicable and 41.8% of respondents preserve their pattern. For those respondents who changed their pattern, we identified political interest, religiosity, gender and age as the main factors behind this change. 

Research implications: The study contributes to the understanding of youth Active Citizenship and the factors that support and promote it. 

Author Biographies

Ekaterina Enchikova, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto

Ekaterina Enchikova PhD is a researcher at the University of Porto and a member of CIIE – Center for Education Research and Intervention. She is interested in large-scale international studies and their methodology, exploring ways to improve the quality of education through the optics of quantitative and comparative studies. In her studies, she focuses on the questions of the cultural context of different social groups and the fairness and applicability of the educational practices in these groups. 

Tiago Neves, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto

Tiago Neves, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Education Sciences in the University of Porto and a member of CIIE – Center for Education Research and Intervention. In national and international research projects, he has focused mostly on educational inequalities and the learning opportunities available for people in situations of vulnerability. He is currently focused on the efficacy of compensatory education and on whether PISA is a device that promotes equity. 

Mai Beilman, Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu

Mai Beilmann, PhD, is a Research Fellow in Sociology at the Institute of Social Studies at the University of Tartu and the President of the Estonian Association of Sociologists. Her research focuses on values, social capital, social and political participation, and vulnerability, with a special focus on children and youth studies. 

Shakuntala Banaji, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science

Shakuntala Banaji, PhD, is Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change at the London School of Economics and Political Science and programme director of the Master’s in Media, Communication and Development. Recent books include Children and Media in India (Routledge) and Youth Active Citizenship in Europe (Palgrave) with Social Media Hate (Routledge) due out in 2022. 

Vassilis Pavlopoulos, Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Vassilis G. Pavlopoulos, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Director of the Laboratory of Applied Cross-Cultural and Social Psychology in the Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His current research interests focus on acculturation and intercultural relations, resilience processes of immigrant youth, ideologies of cultural diversity, youth political participation and active citizenship. 

Pedro Daniel Ferreira, Porto, Portugal

Pedro D. Ferreira PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education Sciences in the University of Porto and a member of CIIE – Center for Education Research and Intervention. In national and international research projects, he has focused on civic and political participation of young people and adults, and he currently pursues interests on how digital contexts and media can be part of emancipatory and participatory forms of citizenship and citizenship education. 

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Further information

Published

2021-04-21

How to Cite

Enchikova, E., Neves, T., Beilman, M., Banaji, S., Pavlopoulos, V., & Ferreira, P. D. (2021). Active Citizenship: Participatory Patterns of European Youth. JSSE - Journal of Social Science Education, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-3146

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Article

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