Old habits die hard? Neighbourhood participation in Slovenia and the Netherlands

Filipovič Hrast, Maša (author), Dekker, Karien (author)

The old hypothesis that citizens in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe participate less than those in the West is tested here in the neighbourhood context. Traditional explanations often focus on the neighbourhood context in which social capital is built, and how this leads to participation. We connect to these existing insights by describing the democratic and policy context in a former communist country (Slovenia) and a Western European country (The Netherlands). The differences in social capital and participation between the residents of post WWII neighbourhoods in Slovenia and The Netherlands are analysed using multivariate modeling procedures. The empirical data was collected in the 2004 RESTATE survey that was held in post World War II neighbourhoods in both countries. The findings show that, despite our expectations, participation levels are similar in the Slovene and in the Dutch case study areas. Participation in the Dutch neighbourhood is higher for residents that are a member of a social organisation. In the Slovene case study area none of the indicators of social capital significantly influence participation. Yet in both neighbourhoods the share of explained variation in participation increases enormously when socialcapital is added to the models. The conclusions underline the theoretical assumptions that social capital influences participation, and that the old hypothesis that participation is lower in former communist countries does not hold here. The local context provides a useful contribution to our understanding of international differences.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.08 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2007
• Number of pages: 22 str.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-44812
• UDC: 316.334.56
• COBISS.SI-ID: 26530909
• Publication date in RUL: 10.07.2015