Sažetak | Politička participacija građana jedan je od osnovnih preduvjeta za postojanje i uspješno funkcioniranje demokratskih sustava. Sam se pojam demokracije u doslovnom prijevodu s grčkog jezika naziva vladavinom naroda pa prema tome demokracija ne bi opravdala svoje ime bez vladavine od strane građana niti bi mogla funkcionirati bez minimalne razine političke participacije. Politička se participacija može promatrati kroz tri dimenzije: izborna participacija, konvencionalna politička participacija (institucionalizirane aktivnosti vezane uz političku stranku) i nekonvencionalna politička participacija (protestne političke aktivnosti).
U današnje se vrijeme u mlađim, ali i onim starijim i dobro ustanovljenim demokracijama, bilježi pad izborne i konvencionalne političke participacije, povjerenja u sustave i institucije te rast skepticizma i cinizma prema politici. Niska razina političke participacije osim političkog, predstavlja i društveni problem jer ugrožava demokraciju s obzirom da je razvoj države kao i njeno pravno i ekonomsko funkcioniranje određeno stupnjem političke svjesnosti i uključenosti.
Jedan od alata kojima se može pozitivno djelovati na povećanje političke participacije jest politički marketing koji, iako djelomično i kritiziran, dobiva sve veći značaj u politici. U političkom marketingu nužno je poznavati birača i njegovo ponašanje kako bi se na njega moglo utjecati u željenom smjeru. Prethodna su sociološka istraživanja identificirala različite utjecajne čimbenike na političku participaciju, no postoji uvelike neistražen prostor, posebice konvencionalne političke participacije, u kontekstu samog političkog marketinga, pogotovo kod mlađih demokracija i zemalja u tranziciji.
Svrha ovog doktorskog rada je doprinos teoriji političkog marketinga i teoriji političke participacije kroz bolje razumijevanje odnosa između promatranih potencijalnih prediktora namjere političke participacije kako bi se aktivnostima političkog i društvenog marketinga, na njih moglo utjecati u pozitivnom smjeru. Osim navedenog primarnog cilja, disertacijom se nastoji istražiti i analizirati dosadašnja razina političke participacije (izborna participacija,
ii
konvencionalna i nekonvencionalna politička participacija), zatim razlike u dosadašnjoj političkoj participaciji prema socio-demografskim karakteristikama (spol, dob, obrazovanje, prihodi, religioznost), klasterizirati ispitanike prema političkoj uključenosti te istražiti i analizirati njihove socio-demografske i psihografske karakteristike za potrebe segmentacije birača u političkom marketingu.
Rezultati primarnog istraživanja su pokazali kako više razine izborne participacije iskazuju stariji građani, građani s višim prihodima kućanstva i građani koji iskazuju više stope religioznosti. Veću tendenciju sudjelovanja u nekonvencionalnim aktivnostima imaju muškarci, građani s višim prihodima kućanstva te građani s višim stupnjem obrazovanja. Situacija s konvencionalnom političkom participacijom također je slična: skloniji su joj muškarci te građani s višim prihodima dok se u pogledu obrazovanja i religioznosti u ovom slučaju nisu pokazale značajne razlike.
Rezultatima primarnog istraživanja također je utvrđeno kako na namjeru konvencionalne političke participacije najvećim dijelom utječu politička uključenost, odnosno interes za politikom, zatim percipirano znanje o politici, sudjelovanje u nekonvencionalnim političkim aktivnostima, subjektivne norme te zadovoljstvo političkim odabirom. Utvrđivanjem ključne varijable za političku participaciju, političke uključenosti, razvijeni su klasteri birača upravo prema razini te političke uključenosti. Rezultati su pokazali kako gotovo 60% građana pripada klasteru politički apatičnih, odnosno ispitanika koji nisu uopće uključeni niti zainteresirani za politiku što je zabrinjavajuće visok postotak te je jasno kako je neophodno potaknuti političku uključenost kod građana. |
Sažetak (engleski) | Political participation of citizens is one of the basic preconditions for the existence and successful functioning of democratic systems. The notion of democracy in the literal translation from the Greek language is called the rule of the people, so democracy would not justify its name without the rule of citizens, nor could it function without the minimum level of political participation. Political participation can be seen through three dimensions: electoral participation, conventional political participation (institutionalized activities related to a political party) and unconventional political participation (protestive political activities).
At present, younger but also older and well-established democracies, are facing a decrease in electoral and conventional political participation, trust in systems and institutions, growth of skepticism and cynicism towards politics as well as conventional political participation. The low level of political participation, apart from political, also represents a social problem because it threatens democracy, given that the development of a country as well as its legal and economic functioning are determined by the degree of political awareness and involvement.
One of the tools that can be used to positively influence on the increase of political participation is political marketing which, although sometimes criticized, is gaining greater significance in politics. In political marketing, it is necessary to know the voter and his behaviour in order to influence the voter in the desired direction. Earlier sociological studies have identified various influential factors on political participation, but there is a large unexplored space, especially when it comes to conventional political participation, in the context of political marketing itself. The lack of research in this area is even more present in younger democracies and transition countries.
The purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to contribute to the theory of political marketing and to the theory of political participation through a better understanding of the relationships between the observed potential predictors of political participation intention in order to
iv
positively influence them with the activities of political and social marketing. In addition to the stated primary objective, the dissertation seeks to explore and analyse the current level of political participation (electoral participation, conventional and unconventional political participation), to explore potential socio-demographic differences in political participation (gender, age, education, income, religiosity), to perform cluster analysis of voters based on the level of their political involvement and to examine and analyse their socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics for the needs of voter segmentation in political marketing.
The results of the primary research have shown that higher levels of electoral participation are expressed by older citizens, citizens with higher household incomes and citizens with higher rates of religiosity. Greater tendency to participate in unconventional activities have men, citizens with higher household incomes and higher educated citizens. The situation with conventional political participation is also similar: men and citizens with higher incomes are more inclined to it, whereas in the case of education and religiosity, no significant differences were found.
The results of the primary research also found that the intention for conventional political participation are largely influenced by political involvement, ie political interest, perceived political knowledge, participation in unconventional political activities, subjective norms, and satisfaction with previous political choice. By defining the key variable for political participation, political involvement, voter clusters are developed according to the level of political involvement. The results have shown that almost 60% of citizens belong to a cluster of politically apathetic citizens, ie those who are not at all involved or interested in politics. This high percentage is a worrying fact and it is clear that it is necessary to encourage political involvement among citizens. |