Deprivation and non-institutional political participation: analysing the relationship between deprivation, institutional trust and political activism in Europe

ABSTRACT

This article examines how the relationship between perceived economic deprivation (PED) and non-institutional forms of political activity interacted with institutional trust during the economic crisis in 24 European countries. Using multi-level regression analysis, two broad questions are addressed: (1) does PED have an impact on the level of non-institutional political participation among European citizens? And (2) does the level of institutional trust within countries have an impact on the relationship between PED and political activity among European citizens? The empirical analyses are based on data from the European Social Survey Round Five 2010. Two important conclusions can be drawn. First, on the aggregate level, countries suffering from a high level of PED display fewer instances of non-institutional forms of political activity than countries with a low level of PED, while we find the opposite correlation on an individual level within the countries. Second, the analysis provides evidence that the institutional context shapes the connection between PED and political participation on the individual level. In countries with a high level of institutional trust, economically deprived citizens seem more prone to engage in non-institutional forms of political activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Relative deprivation
• institutional trust
• non- institutional political participation
• multi-level regression

Notes

1 In this article, Worn or displayed a campaign badge/sticker? is included as a measure of non-institutional political activity, because it is not necessarily related to elections or political parties but is also used in other types of campaigns and social movement mobilisation and advocacy activities. That said, we have run a test and the results are still robust if we exclude this item.

2 ‘Cut back’ in the sense of reducing the number of (quantity) or the amount spent on (quality).

3 ‘Household equipment’ includes things like irons, vacuum cleaners or washing machines. Translations should not specifically include these examples but should use a word or phrase that alludes to such things.

4 In order to test the robustness of the results I also ran a count mode (negative binomial model) with log link and with robust standard error. I also controlled the model for other macro variables such as the Gini coefficient and human development index. However, the effect of institutional trust on an aggregate level does not disappear.

5 In this article, Worn or displayed a campaign badge/sticker? is included as a measure of non-institutional political activity, because it is not necessarily related to elections or political parties but is also used in other types of campaigns and social movement mobilisation and advocacy activities. That said, we have run a test and the results are still robust if we exclude this item.