Abstract

TEMKIN, Benjamín  and  FLORES-IVICH, Georgina. Forms of political participation, subjective well-being: a world survey. Estud. sociol [online]. 2017, vol.35, n.104, pp.319-341. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2017v35n104.1544.

Subjective well-being has been described as perhaps "the ultimate dependent variable" of the social sciences. Thus, it is understandable that much of the empirical research on the subject has focused on the identification of its correlates. In this paper we utilize the sixth wave of the World Value Survey carried out in 60 countries between 2010 and 2014, to evaluate the relationship between different types of political participation and the subjective well-being of citizens. Our research partially confirms the hypothesis that, when controlling for the democratic or undemocratic character of political institutions, conventional political participation is positively and significantly associated with life satisfaction, while unconventional conflictive political activities show the opposite relationship to well-being. On the other hand, the democratic nature of state institutions is universally and consistently related to higher levels of personal well-being among individuals.

Keywords : political participation; subjective well-being; democracy; World Value Survey.