TITLE:
Civic-Political Development in the Context of Economic Apartheid in Distressed Communities: A Theoretical Model
AUTHORS:
Diann Kelly
KEYWORDS:
Civic-Political Development, Distressed Communities, Community Attachment, Working Poor, Voting Practices, Social Trust
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Applied Sociology,
Vol.7 No.12,
December
14,
2017
ABSTRACT: As class status improves, engagement in civic and political activities increases. These activities are voting, volunteerism and vocal activism. However, depressed socio-economic status leaves many individuals disengaged from civic-political structures. Applying Attachment Theory, this article proposes there are five statuses of civic-political development to being an engaged citizen. These statuses correspond to fixed class categories and are 1) disengaged and detached; 2) insecure, responsive; 3) insecure, subscribing; 4) secure, subscribing; 5) secure and defining. The lower the quintile, the less engaged an individual is in the civic-political structures of society and attached to their community. Organizing communities is one way to engage individuals into the civic-political structures of their community in spite of their economic status.