Journals Information
Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 4(4), pp. 228 - 240
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040405
Reprint (PDF) (335Kb)
Differences and Inequalities in Civic Participation among Bulgarian Youth
Siyka Kovacheva 1,*, Stanimir Kabaivanov 2
1 Department of Applied Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2 Department of Finance, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
ABSTRACT
This paper addresses the question: what explains the differences in young Bulgarians' involvement in informal volunteering, participation in associations and civic protests twenty-five years after the regime change. The explanation is based on the results of a representative social survey with 1030 young people aged 14-27 in the summer of 2014, funded by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The data show that both attitudinal and behavioral measures of civic engagement are influenced, albeit in different degrees, by structural factors such as gender, education, family background, ethnicity, locality and socio-economic status. A very important intervening variable is trust which in this survey is measured towards a variety of social groups. In general, young people in the country tend to express high trust in family and friends and low trust in people outside their immediate milieu. This kind of social capital mobilizing closed horizontal ties ensures support in uncertain times but does not enable more enriching, even if uncertain, contacts with members of wider communities. It also influences the types of voluntary actions young people engage in: more often informal personal assistance for people they know or see directly and much less often formal involvement in NGO activities. Having higher education, middle to high socioeconomic status, living in large cities or the country's capital provide opportunities for the young to recognize the benefits of membership in civic associations.
KEYWORDS
Youth Participation, Voting, Volunteering, Civic Values, Trust, Social Inequalities
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Siyka Kovacheva , Stanimir Kabaivanov , "Differences and Inequalities in Civic Participation among Bulgarian Youth," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 228 - 240, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040405.
(b). APA Format:
Siyka Kovacheva , Stanimir Kabaivanov (2016). Differences and Inequalities in Civic Participation among Bulgarian Youth. Sociology and Anthropology, 4(4), 228 - 240. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040405.