The effect of discrimination on political participation, political interest and political efficacy in Europe

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

The research aspires to show how discrimination affects three interrelated concepts that of political participation, political interest and sense of political efficacy. More particularly the project will focus attention on citizens who have been discriminated against on the grounds of different characteristics such as race, nationality, religion, language, ethnicity, age, gender, and sexuality. The research will answer questions such as: Why discrimination curtails certain forms of political participation while boosts others? Do all types of discrimination have the same effect on political participation, political interest and political efficacy? How the relationship between political participation and political attitudes mediates the effect that discrimination has on both? The research expands the scope of previous research that the author has published in international academic journals such as British Journal of Political Science and International Relations, Party Politics and International Political Science Review. This research advocates "plurality of voices" in at least two ways: first the research has a strong multidisciplinary component as it combines theories of political science with social psychology; second, the research argues that discrimination leads to a situation where the voices of the discriminated are subdued in the democratic process. Data draws on European Social Survey (ESS) that provides information from more than 32 European countries during 2002–2018. Methodologically the research relies on quantitative methods. There will be close collaboration and co-authoring with Dr. Rapeli Lauri, Professor Mikko Mattila, Professor Åsa von Schoultz and Dr. Luca Bernardi.