James Sandy's Presentation notes

In the first Viewpoint event I spoke about some recent research from the University of Manchester which focuses on community participation and the things that motivate people to take on civic roles.

You can read Peter John, Edward Fieldhouse, Hanhua Liu's full article at the following link: 

How Civic is the Civic Culture?

Below are the notes I used for the session:

A recent study shows that 9% of the adult population of England participate in a community forum or in a related aspect of citizen governance (John,2009).

People get involved in “self-help” initiatives to seek to make a difference in their local communities.

This has increased despite:

• Growing population mobility
• Longer working hours
• Greater commuting times
• More nationally based media

This research asks:

Given the demands for citizens to be more civic and the high costs of doing so, what motivates them to get involved?

  

Civic Behaviour 

• Expanding range of options
• More and more policy initiatives

 

Four types of civic behaviour:

1.   Influence institutions individually

Influence rules, laws or policies through individual actions (lobby Cllr or MP)

2.   Collective Civic

Acts of co-operation- petitions and demonstrations

3.    Citizen Governance

Informal and semi-formal groups (e.g. tenants groups)

4.   Community Voluntarism

A form of ethical self-governance that emerges when an individual is aware of the public benefit in their actions (leading a committee or mentoring)

Explaining Civic behaviour- what motivates or orientates people?

There are four factors in the decision-making process:

1. Trust in Government Institutions

•  A positive link between political trust and political participation.

Or

• A lack of trust may be a stimulus for citizens to get involved and “redress wrongs”

• Lower trust = “anti-regime” political activities

2. Moral Motivations

• Considering the wellbeing of others
• Obedience to a set of guidelines or beliefs
• These are acquired depending on social and cultural backgrounds
• Vary and are applied at different rates/levels
• Not always in conflict with self-interest

3. Neighbourhood social norms

• “customary rules of behaviour that govern interactions with others….in neighbourhood”.
• The ways in which individuals perceive expected and accepted behaviours and values in their neighbourhood
• Individual perspectives affect tendency/willingness toward civic engagement
• Helping out if others feel threatened
• The energy usage example
• “Nudge” theory

4. Neighbourhood Affect

• A sense of attachment
• A person has to feel part of something in order to join in
• A sense of community
• Anger, strong feelings and a lack of consultation- can be strong motivators
• Rational choice model

• Affect= “ a sense of attachment to the locality, and frustration or discontent at its general state”