Assessing factors influencing political engagement in local communities

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between perspectives on community leadership and both attitudes about political participation and actual political engagement. While there is a considerable body of scholarship focused on factors associated with political attitudes and engagement, there is little that addresses the link between views on community leaders and political behavior. This analysis is based on a statewide survey of a random sample of households in Kentucky that was conducted in the summer of 2009. The survey obtained information on several ways in which local people might evaluate their community leaders, as well as information on respondents’ political perspectives and actual behavior. The analysis will include both a statewide assessment, as well as a comparison of rural and urban respondents.

Keywords:

• citizen participation
• democratic theory and participation
• leadership
• local governance

Notes

1. Residence codes are a recoding of Beale’s USDA ERS rural-urban continuum codes. For a complete description of the codes see: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Rurality/RuralUrbCon/1 = Metropolitan (1, 2, 3) All metropolitan counties2 = Urban adjacent (4, 6) Counties with an urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area and counties with an urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area3 = Urban nonadjacent (5, 7) Counties with an urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area and counties with an urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, not adjacent to a metro area4 = Rural adjacent (8) Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area5 = Rural nonadjacent (9) Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, not adjacent to a metro area