Americans today face no shortage of threats to their financial
well-being, such as job and retirement insecurity, health care
costs, and spiraling college tuition. While one might expect that
these concerns would motivate people to become more politically
engaged on the issues, this often doesn't happen, and the resulting
inaction carries consequences for political debates and public
policy. Moving beyond previously studied barriers to political
organization, "American Insecurity" sheds light on the public's
inaction over economic insecurities by showing that the rhetoric
surrounding these issues is actually self-undermining. By their
nature, the very arguments intended to mobilize individuals--asking
them to devote money or time to politics--remind citizens of their
economic fears and personal constraints, leading to
undermobilization and nonparticipation.
Adam Seth Levine explains why the set of people who become
politically active on financial insecurity issues is therefore
quite narrow. When money is needed, only those who care about the
issues but are not personally affected become involved. When time
is needed, participation is limited to those not personally
affected or those who are personally affected but outside of the
labor force with time to spare. The latter explains why it is
relatively easy to mobilize retirees on topics that reflect
personal financial concerns, such as Social Security and Medicare.
In general, however, when political representation requires a large
group to make their case, economic insecurity threats are uniquely
disadvantaged.
Scrutinizing the foundations of political behavior, "American
Insecurity" offers a new perspective on collective
participation.
General
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