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Unattached and unconvinced: Australian non-partisans
Citation
Tranter, B and Smith, J, Unattached and unconvinced: Australian non-partisans, Australian Journal of Social Issues ISSN 0157-6321 (2020) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Australian Social Policy Association
DOI: doi:10.1002/ajs4.116
Abstract
Political party identification is a strong predictor of political
behaviour and social attitudes in advanced industrialised
democracies. Australian Election Study data show declining
identification with major parties over time, and that working-
class Australians, those who do not identify with any
class, the secular and the politically uninterested are most
likely to be non-partisans. However, national samples
rarely allow for detailed analysis of younger people, given
the low numbers of younger people they contain. Longitudinal
data from the Social Futures and Life Pathways
("Our Lives") project enable us to focus upon young Australians
aged 24 living in the state of Queensland. The
Queensland data show that younger non-partisans tend to
lack post-secondary education, are on lower incomes, are
less interested in politics and, importantly, have nonaligned
parents. Nationally, non-partisans were less likely
than partisans to pay attention to politics during the 2016
Federal Election, but more likely to decide how to vote on
the day of the Federal Election and more likely than partisans
to vote informal. Younger non-partisans were also
less likely to engage in non-electoral political actions, such
as signing e-petitions or posting in online forums or social
networking sites.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | political party identification, Australia, partisan dealignment, survey research, young people |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Sociology not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
Objective Group: | Government and politics |
Objective Field: | Government and politics not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Tranter, B (Professor Bruce Tranter) |
ID Code: | 138834 |
Year Published: | 2020 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2020-05-01 |
Last Modified: | 2021-05-19 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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