Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of charts and maps
- List of tables
- Preface
- Part I Theories and methods
- Part II Patterns and pathways
- 3 Patterns of political participation
- 4 Individual resources
- 5 Group resources
- 6 Economic location
- 7 Personal factors
- 8 Political outlooks
- 9 Party and values
- 10 Who are the political activists?
- Part III Issues and actions
- Part IV The local process
- Part V Conclusions
- Appendix A Survey methods
- Appendix B Measuring elite-citizen concurrence
- Appendix C The National Questionnaire
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Group resources
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of charts and maps
- List of tables
- Preface
- Part I Theories and methods
- Part II Patterns and pathways
- 3 Patterns of political participation
- 4 Individual resources
- 5 Group resources
- 6 Economic location
- 7 Personal factors
- 8 Political outlooks
- 9 Party and values
- 10 Who are the political activists?
- Part III Issues and actions
- Part IV The local process
- Part V Conclusions
- Appendix A Survey methods
- Appendix B Measuring elite-citizen concurrence
- Appendix C The National Questionnaire
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Groups are fundamental to liberal democratic politics. A political scientist who once claimed that ‘when the groups are stated, everything is stated’ was certainly exaggerating, but it was a pardonable exaggeration. Every reader will be able to think in an instant of a myriad of groups whose activities touch regularly or intermittently on politics, both national and local. They may be nationally well-known groups such as major trades unions or the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals, or they may be relatively obscure local groups concerned to support a hospital or preserve the green belt. As we shall see, around two-thirds of the adult British population belong to at least one group, aside from trades unions, whilst over half either are or have been members of a union or staff association.
There are at least two ways in which groups can be important to participation. First, membership of groups can provide the individual with information about policies and actions which may affect his or her life. Through interacting with others who have like interests, persons become more aware of their social and political environment. Still more should this be so if a person is a member of a multiplicity of groups. In a sense, one has then an upward relationship with the group, using it as a resource. Secondly, where persons are members of a group, they are available to be mobilised in a downward relationship, by the group and its leaders.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Political Participation and Democracy in Britain , pp. 85 - 119Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992