Study title

There are at least two general approaches to the study of citizenship. It can be analysed from a legal point of view, or it can also be studied from a political culture perspective. The current Citizenship survey endeavours to apply the second approach. The focus is on citizens’ civic and political identities, and social and political participation. The survey covers the classical distinction between the vertical and the horizontal aspects of democracy. The vertical aspect deals with the relation between citizens and the political system, and the horizontal deals with the relations between citizens. The survey contains – at least – four crucial dimensions. The first is citizens’ evaluation of political and democratic institutions and citizens’ empowerment. One aspect of this dimension is covered by questions about people’s trust in institutions and their evaluation of political parties, referendums, election campaigns, corruption and democracy as such. Questions about people’s views of their own ability to deal with political problems and influence political decisions (internal efficacy), and questions about the responsivity of the political system (external efficacy) cover the other aspect. The second dimension deals with citizens’ perceptions of the ‘good citizen’ and the ‘good democracy’. How important do people think rights, duties and obligations are for them and for the good society, and how important is it for them to show civility? It is probable that people’s normative perception about the ‘good citizen’ and the ‘good democracy’ have importance for their evaluation of democratic institutions. On the other hand people’s perception of the ‘good democracy’ may also be influenced or formed by their experience with political institutions. In other words, the two dimensions are closely related and the causal relationship is reciprocal. The third dimension has its offspring in the horizontal dimension and deals with social trust and social capital. To what...