Political Participation and Forms of Social Capital

概要

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The purpose of this paper is to establish whether or not social capital consisting specifically of social trust and membership in associations and informal groups serves to raise the level of political participation in Japan as it does in other countries. Using the data taken from a nationwide sample survey called the Japan Election and Democracy Study 2000 (JEDS 2000), causal analysis was conducted based on the following model: (1) Participation in associations and informal groups affects general trust, norms of reciprocity, and voters' sense of political efficacy; (2) these variables in turn affect trust in political institutions; and (3) all of these variables affect the level of political participation. The results of the analysis clearly reveal that in Japan, as in other countries, membership in associations and informal groups influences general trust, norms of reciprocity, sense of political efficacy, and trust in institutions. Furthermore, these effects as a whole promote political participation.
日本選挙学会の論文