Participation and Democracy: Dynamics, Causes ... - Jacobs University

To measure participation in elite-challenging challenging activities, survey data are used
as the main source of information on reported political participation. Before presenting
the comparative survey data sets, the criteria for country selection will be explained.
Finally, the measures for elite-challenging action are introduced, as they provide the
basis for the subsequent empirical analyses.
4.1 Survey Research and Alternative Ways to Measure Participation
To test the hypotheses developed in Chapter 3, participation data are required both on
the individual and on the aggregate level. These types of information are best
represented in cross-national survey programs. How can elite-challenging participation
be measured?
Measuring means, in a nutshell, to assign numbers to objects according to certain rules
(Stevens 1946), and for social scientists this process is almost never free of problems.
Accordingly, measuring elite-challenging political action is not a straightforward thing
to do, and any method of quantifying political participation has its benefits and flaws
(Parry, Moyser and Day 1992: 31). Besides methods like participant observation, indepth
interviews with participants or activists, or using event data as a source of
information, research on political activism can also be based on survey data.
Standardized surveys allow for the collection, processing and analysis of mass data,
covering a considerable time span. Looking at the social science literature, Brady (1999:
742) distinguishes three survey approaches “to get ordinary citizens to provide valid
reports of their political activities”. Besides a) the study of institutions and organization
where action might occur 14 , and b) the identification of problems that might lead to
14 The institutions approach follows the assumption that participation is usually a group activity. Survey
questions about the respondent’s work life, church life, family life, etc. are followed by questions about
specific activities (contacted officials, etc.) as part of the group activity. It is almost unnecessary to point
out that this form of surveying is highly time-consuming and might be inattentive to forms of engagement
outside voluntary organizations.
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