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The Effects of Previous and Current Instrumental Involvement and Expressive Involvement on Online Political Participation among Chinese College Students
Author(s) -
Wang Hongyu,
Cai Tianji,
Xin Yanyu,
Chen Baichao
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/soin.12252
Subject(s) - politics , instrumental variable , citizen journalism , democracy , china , political efficacy , social psychology , survey data collection , sociology , psychology , political science , economics , law , econometrics , statistics , mathematics
This study compares the effect of different types of previous and current memberships on college students’ online political participation in contemporary China using survey method and in‐depth interviews. We find that it is previous instrumental involvement, not expressive participation in high school that is significantly and positively associated with online political participation. Meanwhile, college instrumental involvement exerts no effect on online political participation, and college expressive involvement is negatively associated with youth online expressive participation. Previous instrumental involvement stimulates subsequent political engagement by exposing members to subsequent political mobilization. Instrumental associations do not act as schools of democracy in which members foster political interest or boost generalized trust, but significantly increase members’ chances to be asked to take part in politics years later. The results from the in‐depth interviews regarding the differences in participatory environments between high school and college can be used to explain why instrumental involvement in high school but not college stimulates subsequent political engagement.