Moved to Action: Motivation, Participation, and Inequality in American Politics

Wealthy, educated, and more privileged people are more likely to participate and be represented in politics than their poorer, less educated, and less privileged counterparts. To reduce these inequalities, we need a better understanding of how the disadvantaged become motivated to participate. Moved to Action fills the current gap in this area of research by examining the commitments and pathways through which the underprivileged become engaged in politics.

Drawing on original, in-depth interviews with political activists and large-scale survey data, author Hahrie C. Han contests the traditional idea that people must be politicized before they participate, and that only idiosyncratic factors outside the control of the political system can drive motivation. Her findings show that that highly personal commitments, such as the quality of children's education or the desire to help a friend, have a disproportionately large impact in motivating political participation among people with fewer resources. Han makes the case that civic and political organizations can lay the foundation for greater citizen participation by helping people recognize the connections between their personal commitments and politics.

Author: Hahrie C. Han
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 08/17/2009
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780804762250

Review Citation(s):
Choice 04/01/2010
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2010 pg. 172

About the Author
Hahrie C. Han is the Sidney R. Knafel Assistant Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Political Science at Wellesley College and a 2009-2011 Fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholars Program at Harvard University.