Civic Talk

Peers, Politics, and the Future of Democracy

Casey Klofstad

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781439902738, 9781439902721
• eBook ISBN: 9781439902745
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Advocacy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Does talking about civic issues encourage civic participation? In his innovative book, Civic Talk, Casey Klofstad shows that our discussions about politics and current events with our friends, colleagues, and relatives—"civic talk"—has the ability to turn thought into action—from voting to volunteering in civic organizations.

Klofstad's path breaking research is the first to find evidence of a causal relationship between the casual chatting and civic participation. He employs survey information and focus groups consisting of randomly assigned college freshman roommates to show this behavior in action. Klofstad also illustrates how civic talk varies under different circumstances and how the effects can last years into the future. Based on these findings, Klofstad contends that social context plays a central role in maintaining the strength of democracy. This conclusion cuts against the grain of previous research, which primarily focuses on individual-level determinants of civic participation, and negates social-level explanations.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Civic Talk and Civic Participation
• 3. Does Civic Talk Cause Civic Participation?
• 4. Why Does Civic Talk Cause Civic Participation?
• 5. Do You Matter?
• 6. Do Your Peers Matter?
• 7. The Significant and Lasting Effect of Civic Talk
• 8. Peers, Politics, and the Future of Democracy
• Appendix A: The Collegiate Social Network Interaction Project (C-SNIP)
• Appendix B: C-SNIP Panel Survey Questions and Variables
• Appendix C: Matching Data Pre-processing
• References
• Index