An analysis of communal activity as a mode of political participation.

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Patrick Leslie

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BA (PPE)

An analysis of communal activity as a mode of political participation.

Political Behavior 212

H. MacDonald

Introduction 

To answer the two part question the term communal activity must first be analyzed within the modes of political participation. With in-depth knowledge of the topic of communal activity the Palestine Solidarity Committee will be analyzed as structure out of government, and as a structure within the communal activity mode of political participation. The activity of the PSC will be examined and the impact of the group will be discussed. The impact of the PSC should highlight the functions of communal groups in political participation.

Communal activity.

“Conventional wisdom indicates that the decline in political participation is a worldwide trend,” this statement taken from the question is proved to be wrong on a certain level. It is shown to be false by Russell Dalton who suggested that participation in citizen-initiated and policy-oriented forms of participation is increasing, including citizen action groups, communal participation and direct democracy methods, producing new challenges for the traditional institutions of representative democracy. (Norris: pg 4)  From the statement it is clear that political participation is not decreasing but rather changing forms. The reasoning behind this shift is clarified by Ronald Inglehart’s belief that, “social trends in post post-industrial societies have fuelled a revolution in cultural values, especially among the younger generation of well-educated citizens, who have less interest in the old left-right issues of the economy and greater concern about the post-materialist agenda of quality of life issues, such as the environment, gender equality and human rights.” (Inglehart: pg 4). Importantly Inglehart also supports the idea that, “support for traditional hierarchical and bureaucratic organisations like parties and churches has declined, but the younger generation in affluent societies has become increasingly active in politics via new social movements and transnational advocacy networks……publics have not become apathetic: quite the contrary, in the last two decades they have become markedly more likely to engage in elite-challenging forms of political participation.” (Norris: pg 5) The above statement is the foundation of why people are changing to communal activity.  

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Communal activity is the working of a group within society. Dalton described communal activity to involve group effort to deal with social or community problems, ranging from issues of schools or roads to protecting the local environment. (Dalton: pg50) The difference between communal activity and other modes of political participation is based on the following criteria: “firstly, whether the act conveys information about the individual’s political preference and applies pressure for compliance; secondly, whether the act is directed toward a broad social outcome or a particular interest: thirdly, the potential degree of conflict involved in the activity; fourthly, the ...

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