Keywords

Civic engagement; latin america; social capital; women*s civic engagement

Abstract

Civic engagement is a fundamental component of a healthy democracy, contributing to higher government accountability and overall improvement in "good governance". Civic engagement is particularly critical to subgroups which are under-represented in formal political structures, such as women, as it affords these groups the opportunity to voice their unique concerns. However, women participate less in many important forms of civic engagement. The United Nations and other international organizations have emphasized the importance of increasing women's voice and empowerment in an attempt to improve women's overall well-being, particularly in the developing world. Individual and contextual factors have demonstrated contributions toward influencing levels of civic engagement, but these effects only serve in partially explaining why women are less engaged. This study adds to this discussion by examining gender differences in the development and contribution of social capital (measured by networks and trust) to civic engagement within two young and developing democracies; Ecuador and Peru. The study finds that gender differences exist in how social capital is formed, but these differences don't explain women's decreased likelihood for engagement. Thus, social capital can be used to build civic engagement among both genders.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2015

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Bryer, Thomas

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Health and Public Affairs

Degree Program

Public Affairs; Governance and Policy Research

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005842

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005842

Language

English

Release Date

August 2018

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Health and Public Affairs; Health and Public Affairs -- Dissertations, Academic

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