Socioeconomic Status and other Factors which influence political involvement

Factors which affect political engagement

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an individual’s social and economic status that is highly determined by their access to essential services such as schooling, health, and jobs, for example. People with convenient access to those services appear to be more politically active and they are inspired by the abundance of resources to partake in the initiatives that bring about the above facilities and needs. Those with minimal access to money, however, feel secluded in the distribution of resources and thus have little confidence in their political opinion (Krauss 3) Similarly, color and gender also shape individuals’ civic engagement. Races and national groups and societies endorsing and campaigning for the political sphere and participation encourage their people to participate in political activities. On the contrary, some cultural practices in some communities discourage political bondage amongst their people hence discourage political participation.

Other than that, majority ethnic groups tend to participate more in politics as they feel more involved in the governance of the country .On the other hand minority groups feel politically isolated which subsequently affects their attitude on the importance of politics and their civic duties as citizens in the governance of their country, thus, reducing their interest in political activities.

Gender participation in politics has greatly diversified over the years, with the previously male dominated field giving in to women participation Difference in gender brings about differences in political beliefs, voting preference as well as disparity in levels of political participation.

Most importantly is that the impact of gender difference on political participation is subjective to the different group of women, characteristics of different states in the world and modes of political participation (Kittilson 2)

References

Kittilson, Miki Caul. “Gender and Political Behavior.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics 2016: 2-5.

Krauss, Michael W. “The Iinequality of Politics:Social Class Rank and Political Participation.” IRLE Working Paper October 2015.