Sociologia e Criminologia-Acesso Aberto
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Political Participation and Its Correlates in Jamaica: An Empirical Viewpoint

Bourne PA, Pryce CS, Davis AH, Francis C, Coleman OW and Solan I

The inquiry of political science, in Jamaica, has been predominantly qualitative, with the exception of voting behavior. Among the many areas in this discipline to adapt the qualitative approach is political participation. This paper focuses on assessing political participation from a quantitative perspective. Firstly, we have constructed a political participation index using primary data, which was collected in May, 2007. Secondly, we have built an econometric model, aimed at predicting political participation in Jamaica. The model seeks to establish determinants of political participation, by selecting from the literature all factors identified and proposed as having some influence on political participation. An analysis of the model has identified several testable hypotheses about political participation. We found that there are seven factors that can be used to predict political participation. The model explains (adjusted R2) 18.8% of the variation in political participation, of which Age accounts for 11.5%, Confidence, 2.1%, Perception of Corruption, 1.6%; employment, 1.3%; parental education, 1.0%; Religiosity, 0.8%, and subjective psychological wellbeing, 0.5%. The present findings provide insights to the phenomenon, sets the platform for policy implementation and a comprehensive understanding of the framework for future empirical work.