Participation inequality

In social sciences, participation inequality consists of difference between levels of participation of various groups in certain activities. Common examples include:

  • differing levels of participation in democratic, electoral politics, by social class, race, gender, etc.
  • differing levels of participation in online communities as described by Jakob Nielsen.[1]

In politics, participation inequality typically affects "the kinds of individuals, such as the young, the poor and those with little formal education"[2] who tend to not take the initiative to participate in electoral and related events. State enumeration, such as was done in Canada before the implementation of the National Register of Electors in 1996, "worked to augment voter turnout among all segments of society and thus mitigated a natural tendency toward participation inequality in electoral politics".[2]

  1. ^ Nielsen, Jakob (2006-10-09). "Participation Inequality: Encouraging More Users to Contribute". Useit.com. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  2. ^ a b Black, Jerome H. (7 August 2003). "From Enumeration to the National Register of Electors: An Account and an Evaluation" (PDF). Choices. 9 (7). ISSN 0711-0677. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-30.