C:\ftp\04‐30‐10.ark\mdp‐participation.doc Underlined/both emphasis added by Bill Densmore 1 A HIERARCHY OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES IN PRE-VOTING-AGE YOUTH Esther Thorson Glenn Leshner Mi Jahng Margaret Duffy University of Missouri Youth voter turnout in the 2008 Presidential elections was one of the highest in recent years. (49% for those 18-25, up significantly from 2004). This increased participation, together with the seachange in digital devices and channels people are using for communication makes the latest Presidential election crucial to our understanding of political socialization processes in the young. The main idea tested here is whether we can define a hierarchy of different levels of effortfulness of various kinds of political participation and then predict the occurrence of each of those types. For example, talking to others about an election is generally less effortful than attending a political rally. Likewise, participating in school civic exercises is generally required of teens, and therefore does not require effortful intentionality. It is also more effortful to participate in what has come to be called consumer politics (Vogel, 2004; Stolle & Houghe, 2004) where people make statements about political issues like sweatshop manufacturing by refusing to buy products made in those sweatshops. Attending a rally and insisting on the purchase of free-range eggs require knowledge, planning, and thus extensive intentionality. These forms of political participation are also likely greatly aided by parental help, although school, media exposure, and beliefs and attitudes should also be predictive. A second idea tested here is concerned with the role of some newly articulated or at least differently defined cognitive variables that we posit to be quite important for predicting the various participation types. The first is what we call Perceived Hostility, that is, the perception that the media are unfair and biased. That this variable is important is suggested by the extensive literature that on the hostile media effect. (Vallone, Ross & Lepper, 1985). In this effect, people evaluate news stories written with extreme effort to be fair and unbiased, as biased against their own beliefs or partisanship— Democrats, for example, see stories as biased against Democrats and Republicans see exactly same stories as biased against Republicans. A next variable is what we call Civic Mindedness. These are beliefs that underlie willingness to take part in work that raises the level of all boats: listening to others, helping those less fortunate, being involved in community and standing up, even to opposition, for your values. These beliefs are called “democratic citizen” in that these features have been identified as important for people in order to perform cooperatively with others for the betterment of all (Schudson, 1998; Habermas, 2006). A third variable, Persuasion Efficacy, has to do with the influence people think they have on others. Specifically, it involves an individual’s belief in his or her ability to understand others’ minds and emotions and persuade them to certain points of view. A fourth variable, Classroom Political Interest, indexes not whether youth have experienced civics/political lessons in school, but how much they like and are enthusiastic about such activities— indicating receptivity to civics lessons in school. This variable can be considered an index much like “interest in politics,” but it is focused more specifically on enjoyment and enthusiasm about encountering politics in the school environment.