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Recognising political interest
Holding an interest in politics is often seen to be a precursor to political engagement, but it is a little understood concept. This blog considers the confusion that surrounds political interest while making a case that we can’t understand an individual’s interest in politics unless we consider what politics means to them.
How interested would you say you are in politics? It isn’t difficult to see how being interested in politics is something that is seen to be positive for the political system – a link between levels of expressed political interest and reported political engagement has frequently been found. If we want to increase engagement with politics then we need to understand more about political interest – both in terms of what the concept actually captures and what influences the expression of an interest in politics.
When you thought about how interested you are in politics, what informed your answer? The political interest question is often incorporated in election studies such as the British Election Study or the American National Election Studies, along with surveys of civic engagement such as Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement. Despite the ubiquity of the question (albeit often phrased in different ways) there is still uncertainty as to what this measure captures. What is political interest and what do people call upon when they rate their interest in politics?
What is political interest?
Political interest has been defined in a variety of ways. It is seen to be motivational in that interest is the foundation that spurs engagement with politics (Luskin, 1990; Prior, 2010; Robison, 2017). Interest is therefore something of a catalyst that leads to political action. On the surface, this seems to make sense – in order to do ‘something’ there needs to be a reason to do it. However, not all political engagement is fostered through interest, it’s possible that political participation may be spurred through a sense of citizenship duty instead. If interest is seen to be motivational what then of people who might identify as being interested but then choose not to engage with politics? To define interest only as motivational then overlooks people who are interested in politics but who do not act on this interest (Dostie-Goulet, 2009; van Deth, 1989).
Following Renninger and Hidi’s work in the field of education psychology, interest is defined as being a psychological state in addition to having a motivational quality that can, but does not have to, lead to a particular action or behaviour. When applied to politics, interest therefore is something that is experienced. This psychological state can subsequently lead to engagement with the political system.
What influences an interest in politics?
In addition to this definition of political interest, there is also a need to consider what influences political interest. Again, calling upon the education psychology literature helps to develop this concept. Here, interest is relational, it reflects the relationship between a person and the ‘thing’, or target, of interest (Valsiner, 2014). This means that someone’s interest in politics is influenced by how they view and interpret politics. Understanding interest in this way seeks to clear up some of the imprecision around political interest – we need to think about not only what interest is, but also how it develops.
My doctoral research at the University of Birmingham intends to develop some of these ideas by exploring how someone’s interpretation and definition of ‘politics’ can inform their interest in politics. In particular, I will consider that the measurement of political interest in civic engagement surveys captures the expression of an identity of being interested in politics and examine whether people experience interest in politics but do not identify as being interested. Given the acknowledged association between political interest and political engagement, it seems timely to consider not only what political interest is but how people come to acknowledge that they are interested.
Emily Burn is a PhD student at the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on how levels of expressed political interest are influenced by the interpretations and meanings that people attribute to politics.