The influence of social origin on civic participation at schools in Latin America

• In Event: Civic Participation at School in International Comparison

Abstract

Empirical research in civic and political participation has consistently shown that participation is characteristic of those with higher socio-economic status and formal education (Brady, Verba, & Schlozman, 1995; Lijphart, 1997; Dalton, 1988; Han, 2009; Marien, Hooghe, & Quintelier, 2010). Socio-economic status differences among citizens are accentuated in societies with high inequality as the Latin American ones. This has the consequence that economic inequality is related to political inequality in terms of participation. Such a link is not only a threat to the principles of egalitarian political participation in a democracy, but in the Latin American context it also puts at risk the legitimacy of the democratic system itself, as it no longer represents the whole spectrum of its citizenry.
Schools are considered one of the key social institutions for neutralizing the effects of differences in social origin and for providing possibilities of social mobility. In this ideal sense, it would be expected that family socio-economic status differences would not be reflected in educational differences. As the empirical evidence suggests, this is hardly the case in any society, let alone highly unequal ones. Apart from differences in general educational achievement, it is certainly relevant to know to what extent social origin impacts on the participation levels at school and on the disposition to civic participation in future adult life, and if this is the case, to detect which variables at the school level have the potential of mitigating or enhancing this effect.

Data:
Given the availability of the ICCS 2009 data and its Latin American module, for the first time there is an opportunity for an empirical analysis following this research question. Under the general hypothesis that low social origin is related to low participation levels at school and equally low dispositions to participate in adult life, the present paper compares this association in six Latin American countries: Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, and Paraguay. The analyses will include in particular, the following variables:
- Student reports on participation in school activities;
- Student expectations of civic participation as adults;
- Socio-economic background indicators;
- School context information (e.g. participation of teachers and parents in school governance).

Analysis:
The descriptive comparison is followed by a series of multilevel models where the paper introduces several variables at school level that could account for this association, such as participation of teachers and parents, links with the community and school socioeconomic indicators.

Preliminary Results:
Students in Latin American ICCS countries tended to report high levels of involvement in civic activities at school when compared to the average of all ICCS countries. Furthermore, teachers in some Latin American countries indicated that high percentages of students engaged in school-based activities in their local communities. However, there were considerable differences in civic outcomes between schools within Latin American countries, in particular with regard to school location (urban/non-urban), school management (private/public) and socio-economic context.

Authors

• Cristian Cox, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

• Juan Carlos Castillo, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

• Daniel Miranda, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

• Martín Bascopé, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile