Explicating Civic Duty of Political Engagement

Political scientists have tried to explain political engagement among mass citizens. Although they have addressed a number of theories and identified determinants, they fail to account for all the variation in citizens’ political engagement. As a result, they emphasize the role of civic duty as a driving force behind citizens’ engagement in politics. However, little is known about what constitutes this civic duty. This study posits that democratic attitude is an important component of the civic duty of democratic citizens. By having cognitive, affective, and conative orientations toward democracy, people become engaged in various types of political action in a democracy. Using the latest World Values Survey and multi-level statistical techniques, this study shows that citizens with a strong democratic attitude are active in both the conventional (voting) and non-conventional forms (signing petitions, boycotts, and demonstrations) of political participation.