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Civic Engagement of University Students: An Exploratory Analysis

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Democracy and an Open-Economy World Order

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Abstract

An essential element of a truly democratic society is the degree of civic engagement it exhibits. The paper draws on the relevant literature to pinpoint the notion, dimensions and determinants of civic engagement and it then moves to explore the issue empirically. In particular, it examines the level and determinants of young people’s civic engagement in Greece, analysing more than 2000 questionnaires which are collected from students of the University of Thessaly. Civic engagement is assessed along three dimensions, civic, electoral and political voice, taking into account whether people actively participate in associations, offer voluntary work to non-governmental organizations, display buttons, signs or stickers, protest, sign petitions and boycott. In addition, the paper explores what drives such a behaviour. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, age, gender, family environment and income, the research finds that sociality (i.e. the intensity of social connections), altruism and political ideology affect students’ civic participation.

[T]he most democratic country in the world now is that in which men have in our time carried to the highest perfection the art of pursuing in common the objects of common desires and have applied this new technique to the greatest number of purposes.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1969, pp. 514)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A compelling and expanding literature discusses why should, and how could, academic institutions increase their connections to civic society (inter alia: Bjarnason and Coldstream 2003; Benson et al. 2007; Jacoby 2009; Saltmarsh and Zlotkowski 2011).

  2. 2.

    Note that the University is based in Volos (which houses 12 Departments), but it also operates campuses in the cities of Larissa (two Departments), Trikala (one Department), Karditsa (one Department) and Lamia (two Departments).

  3. 3.

    Education of parents was examined instead of personal education since all respondents are university students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Thessaly, Volos, 382 21, Greece

    Paschalis Arvanitidis & Fotini Nasioka

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  1. Paschalis Arvanitidis
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  2. Fotini Nasioka
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Correspondence to Paschalis Arvanitidis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece

    George C. Bitros

  2. Department of Economics, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Nicholas C. Kyriazis

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Arvanitidis, P., Nasioka, F. (2017). Civic Engagement of University Students: An Exploratory Analysis. In: Bitros, G., Kyriazis, N. (eds) Democracy and an Open-Economy World Order. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52168-8_15

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