From the home to the polls: Investigating the role of parenthood in shaping political participation in developing countries

Demographics and political behaviour are intricately connected, with significant life transitions, such as becoming a parent, shaping patterns of political participation. Interest and resource mechanisms work simultaneously, with parenthood heightening interest in public services but also introducing resource constraints. Previous studies failed to analyse this phenomenon in the contexts of developing democracies. Employing a large-N quantitative analysis over 10,000 individuals across 11 developing democracies from 2004 to 2008, this study aims to increase the generalisability of previous findings. The results indeed confirm that parenthood increases voting, particularly for fathers, while specifically motherhood decreases protest participation. The time scope of these effects could not be measured with the available data, highlighting avenues for future primary data-collecting studies. Nonetheless, this study contributes to the understanding of the effect of parenthood on...Show moreDemographics and political behaviour are intricately connected, with significant life transitions, such as becoming a parent, shaping patterns of political participation. Interest and resource mechanisms work simultaneously, with parenthood heightening interest in public services but also introducing resource constraints. Previous studies failed to analyse this phenomenon in the contexts of developing democracies. Employing a large-N quantitative analysis over 10,000 individuals across 11 developing democracies from 2004 to 2008, this study aims to increase the generalisability of previous findings. The results indeed confirm that parenthood increases voting, particularly for fathers, while specifically motherhood decreases protest participation. The time scope of these effects could not be measured with the available data, highlighting avenues for future primary data-collecting studies. Nonetheless, this study contributes to the understanding of the effect of parenthood on political participation.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

From the home to the polls: Investigating the role of parenthood in shaping political participation in developing countries