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Understanding Civic Volunteerism in U.S. Elections

Explore the Civic Volunteerism Model by Verba, Scholzman, and Brady, focusing on resources, engagement, and recruitment in political participation. Learn how these factors impact voting behavior in the U.S.

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Understanding Civic Volunteerism in U.S. Elections

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  1. POL S 354: Elections & Voting in U.S. “The Civic Volunteerism Model” Week 3: April 18, 2006

  2. Voting and Election News… In the news April 11 – 18, 2006: 1. Rally downtown regarding human rights/political rights in China 2. Georgia passes law to crack down on illegal immigrants – requires ID 3. Cheney in Everett and Spokane to help campaign for GOP candidates

  3. Civic Volunteerism Model • Verba, Scholzman and Brady focus on three factors in explaining why people DO NOT participate • Because they can’t • Because they don’t want to • Because nobody asked • This leads to the three components of the CVM model of political participation: • Resources / Engagement / Recruitment

  4. Civic Volunteerism Model • VSB argue that the Civic Volunteerism model stands in contrast to previous models of participation such as: • SES Model • Rational choice model • CVM emphasizes components of previous models but is also flexible to allow each of the three parts to play a larger or smaller role

  5. Civic Volunteerism Model • How do the authors rate the importance of each of the three components: • Resources / ability to participate • Engagement / desire to participate • Recruitment / encouraged to participate • Resources are important in this model because: • Easier and more accurate to measure • Causal link is easier to establish • Argument is easier to make/interpret

  6. Civic Volunteerism Model • Does emphasis on resources make this nothing more than a new SES model, or is there a difference? • Is it possible that engagement or recruitment are more important for different sub-groups?

  7. CVM – Resources • CVM defines resources as: • Time (free time) • Money (expendable) • Civic skills • What about education? Is this a resource or not? • Civic skills may be more accurate • Still include education in the model, but they count it as a demographic ‘control’

  8. CVM – Engagement • Do not narrowly define engagement like they do for resources, instead leaving it open to multiple measures: • Interest in politics • Sense of political efficacy • Civic values associated with participation • Group consciousness • Commitment to specific policies • Many more possible measures…

  9. CVM – Recruitment • Recruitment = requests for participation • CVM moves beyond simple party organizations as doing the recruitment • Church • Work • Clubs / Groups • Friends / Relatives • Multiple avenues for recruitment

  10. Some Notes on Measurement • Where do VSB get their “data”? • Public opinion survey • What are some limitations of their data, with regard to measurement? • Data are all self-reported • Self-reported is less reliable than validated • Recall bias – Did I do that or not? Hmmm… • Interview bias • Social desirability bias

  11. Need Research Assistants • Opportunity for paid and/or extra credit – depends on how much time you put in • Project concerns competitiveness of U.S. House elections 1952 – 2002 • Create database of election results for all 435 House districts in: • 1952; 1962; 1972; 1982; 1992; 2002 • Come talk to me now if you are interested……

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