determinants of political efficacy among scheduled tribe...

5Determinants of Political Efficacyamong Scheduled Tribe Women

The attitudes and behaviour of an individual are profoundly

influenced by one’s reference groups. These groups have been classified into

three categories by Bone and Ranney (1971)—

1) Categories Groups (e.g., sex, age, education etc);

2) Secondary Groups (e.g., occupation, socio-economic status, caste,

social class, ethnic group etc.); and

3) Primary Groups (e.g., family, peer group and neighbourhood).

Due to the differential effect of these reference groups, all the citizens

are not equally concerned with political life. Besides this, nativity, extent of

political awarness, the extent of mass media exposure, extent of sense of

citizen duty and organizational affiliation also have profound effect on one’s

political behaviour. The result is obvious : some people are indifferent to

politics, while others are more deeply involved. According to Dahl (1965),

the political stratum consist of individuals who are psychologically involved

in Governmental decisions. Why some people are more involved in politics

psychologically and think themselves effective in politics ? This question

relates to the determinants of sense of political efficacy. However, one does

not find any consensus about the determinants or antecedents of SPE among

different scholars. This chapter attempts to identify some of the main

antecedents of SPE such as sex, age, marital status, respondent’s education,

family background, nativity, religion, political background, sense of citizen

duty and exposure to mass media.

1

5·1 SEX

It is generally assumed that one’s sex influences one’s political

behaviour. Women’s involvement in politics, as well as their sense of

political efficacy differs from those of men. Women are generally less

involved, efficacious, interested and active in politics than men. It is also

generally believed that they are less likely to feel that their vote ‘matters’ or

they have any civic duty to vote as compared to men. Bone and Ranney

(1971), in their study of American Voters, attributed the feelings of inefficacy

and political inactivity of women mainly to their accepted family role, who

leave the ‘rough and dirty’ world of politics to their husbands or menfolk.

Some of the studies done in Indian setting also reveal a similar trend.

For example Rajnarain (1972), in his study of voting behaviour in Uttar

Pradesh at the time of Fourth General Elections, found that in all the three

constituencies (the urban, rural and reserved), the SPE score was higher for

the male than the female. He also found that female non-voters have lower

SPE than male non-voters. In his supplement study in Rai Bareli and

Jaunpur (1972a), he found that the average score of SPE of female voter was

higher than female non-voter. Similarly, Pathak (1972) also, in his study of

voting behaviour in Gujarat at the time of Fourth General Elections, found

high SPE among males than females.

Had this been the trend of different studies in developed and

developing countries, one could have definitely said about sex as an

important determinant of SPE. But it is not so. White (1971) in his study of

10,337 American primary school age children has shown that sex is not an

important predictor of SPE. A similar trend was noticed by Dastur (1972) in

his study of 603 Bombay voters during Fourth General Elections in India. He

found that women were no longer apathetic or unwilling to participate in

the political process. Contrary to general expectations, they showed

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consciousness of their political rights and were more keen than men in

exercising their franchise. A majority of them also voted independently,

quite contrary to common expectations in a tradition-bound country like

India.

The analysis of the data collected for the present study from the

point of view of sex differences as presented in previous chapter reveals very

interesting facts. Gaddi women are found to possess more sense of political

efficacy than Gaddi men. Selected women belong to Scheduled Tribe of

Himachal Pradesh and they have manifested higher SPE than non-Gaddi

women employing thereby that Scheduled Tribe women don’t lag behind

their counterparts in hills so far as SPE is concerned. In this way, the general

conclusions drawn by Lane (1959), Campbell et. al., (1954), Bone and Ranney

(1971), Rajnarain (1972, 1972a) and Pathak (1972) are not supplemented. On

the contrary, conclusions of scholars like White (1971) and Dastur (1972) are

supplemented. Since the analysis of antecedents of SPE is confined only to

Gaddi women, the comparative view of Gaddi women, non-Gaddi women

and Gaddi men, as given in previous chapter has been dealt with to find out

the impact of sex in determining SPE.

5·2 AGE

It is generally assumed that, like sex, different age groups also

exhibit a differential sense of political efficacy, political involvement and

political activity. Various studies dealing with age as an antecedent of SPE in

different countries show that there is difference of opinion about the role of

age in developing SPE. Bone and Ranney (1971) showed that SPE and

political activity grows steadily in each successively older groups upto those

in their early sixties; as with ageing persons become increasingly aware of

impact of Governmental politics on their welfare and subsequently their

personal stakes in politics increase and become more evident.

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Easton and Dennis (1967), in their study of political efficacy among

American school children varying from grade 3 to 8, found that the children

of grade 3 have already begun to have a sense of political efficacy and that

with the increase in grade, political efficacy also increases. Similar trend of

increase in SPE with the increase in age is noticed by Campbell et. al., (1960)

among American voters and Rajnarain (1972a) among Indian voters.

In contrast to the pattern of increase in SPE at higher grade levels

exhibited by American children and voters, Kasschau’s (1976) study of

Mexican children, attending school in grades 2 to 9, shows that as the age

increases, sense of political efficacy decreases.

There is third category of studies, which attribute high SPE to a

particular age group. For example, Kuroda’s (1971) study of small Japanese

town near Tokyo shows that middle aged persons have high SPE. Dastur

(1972), in his study of Indian voters, found that middle age group (30 to 50

years of age) had high level of SPE and political awareness. This groups was

best informed, highly exposed to various media of communication and

keenly aware of various problems than young age (below 30 years) and old

age (above 50 years) groups. Atal’s (1971) study of U. P. voters again at the

time of Fourth General Elections revealed that people with high degree of

SPE were in the age group 26–34 years. Rajnarain (1972a) found different

impact of age in different constituencies. The average score was highest in

the young in the urban, middle aged in the rural and the old in the reserved

constituencies.

Still there is a fourth category of studies dealing with the role of age

in political efficacy, which emphasizes that age is not relevant for the

development of feeling of political effectiveness. For example, Gupta’s

(1973) study of school children in a U. P. town showed that the average

political efficacy index for various classes did not differ significantly. He

149

found that the number of students having high SPE was more among the

lower classes than among the students of higher classes and that there was

no difference in the SPE of children and adults.

The analysis of data collected for the present study from the point of

view of age categories and the level of political efficacy reveals some

interesting facts. The following table presents the data on age and level of

SPE among respondents—

Table–5·1

Percentage distribution of respondents’ according to age and level of sense ofpolitical efficacy

Age group (in years)

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Upto 25 20·0

(10)

10·0

(5)

70·0

(35)

100·0

(25)

26—34 12·5

(5)

37·5

(15)

50·0

(20)

100·0

(40)

35—44 36·4

(20)

27·3

(15)

36·4

(20)

100·0

(55)

45—54 20·0

(5)

20·0

(5)

60·0

(15)

100·0

(25)

55 & above—

50·0

(15)

50·0

(15)

100·0

(30)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)

(Actual figures are shown in parentheses)

Chi-square=33·54216*** DF=8; Significance value = >·01

Contingency Co-efficient=0·37898

The sample reading of data presented in the table above reveals that

as regards low level of SPE, the proportion of middle aged women of 35 to 44

years have more proportion as compared to other age categories. In the high

150

SPE category, younger women exhibit more proportion than others.

However, no clear trend of increase or decrease in SPE with the

advancement in age is seen. In unveiling this mystery, the statistical analysis

comes to the rescue. The calculated value of X 2 is much higher than its table

value (20· 090) at 8 degrees of freedom, indicating that the two are

significantly associated with each other.

5·3 MARITAL STATUS

For almost every one, the family provides the first, and perhaps the

most important, experience of belonging to a primary group. The family into

which an individual is born and in which major part of his socialization takes

place is called the ‘family of orientation’; with his own marriage, a persons

becomes a member of a new family group, called the ‘family of procreation’

(Murdock, 1949). Although the membership of these two basic family

groups changes with birth and death, marriage and divorce, one or both

provide a set of primary relationships for most persons throughout their

lives. In a society like ours, the selection of mate for a marriageable young

person is the job of the whole family. Although the personal preferences of

the young people involved may sometimes be taken into consideration,

mate selection is primarily based on many socio-economic factors. Even

after marriage, both partners continue to derive most of their personal

satisfaction or gratification from other family members.

There are not many studies available which take note of marital

status in determining one’s political behaviour, except for political

participation, where it has been shown that highest participation rates are

for married persons with no children in United States (Dowse and Hughes,

1975). It would be interesting to know the role of marital status in

determining one’s sense of political efficacy. Table 5· 2 presents data on

marital status and the level of sense of political efficacy.

151

Table–5·2

Percentage distribution of respondents’ marital status and level of sense ofpolitical efficacy

Marital status Sense of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Unmarried— —

100·0

(35)

100·0

(35)

Married 27·6

(40)

27·6

(40)

44·8

(65)

100·0

(145)

‘Others’—

75·0

(15)

25·0

(5)

100·0

(20)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




An observation of the above table manifests consistency. All the

unmarried women are at high level of SPE, whereas, more than one-fourth

married women are at low level of SPE. The category designated as ‘others’

also does not have even a single women at low level of SPE. Instead

three-fourth women of this category exhibit moderate level of SPE and the

remaining one-fourth high level of SPE. Satistically analysed, the data

become even more meaningful. Here our calculated value of X 2 is much

higher than its table value (13· 277) at 4 degrees of freedom, indicating the

high association between marital status and SPE among the selected women.

5·4 RESPONDENTS’ EDUCATION

It is generally assumed that education fulfills one of its primary

functions in providing tools with which the individual can cope more

effectively with the environment. Apparently education also gives people

the psychological apparatus they need for ordering and making sense out of

political events. The best educated in general should be the most active and

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interested in politics and also the most concerned with election results; they

have smallest proportion of non-voters and the highest proportion at the

upper level of activity scale; and they talk politics more and provide more

opinion leaders than any other stratum of the population. Different studies

show that education is the single most important factor contributing to

higher sense of political efficacy (Campbell et. al., 1954; Almond and Verba,

1963; Atal, 1971; Goel, 1972; Rajnarain, 1972, 1972a; Martinussen, 1973; and

Sheth, 1978), though there is difference of opinion about the relevant level of

education. Studies conducted by Campbell et. al., Almond and Verba and

some other scholars in America and Goel, Rajnarain and Sheth in India show

that higher education is related with high sense of political efficacy, whereas,

studies conducted by Atal and Gupta point out the relationship between

lower levels of education (primary and middle) and high political efficacy in

Indian context. Kasschau’s (1976) study of Mexican children also reveals that

the children show higher sense of efficacy level until grades 7 to 9,

afterwards their efficacy feelings decline sharply.

Langton and Karns (1969), in their study of Caribbean secondary

school students (grades 8 to 12), tested the hypothesis that individuals who

are raised or who participate in group or school environments where the

general atmosphere is highly politicized are more likely to develop the view

that politics is amenable to their personal influence, i. e., they will feel more

politically efficacious. A school that allows a political debate and discussion

should also have an effect on the development of sense of political efficacy.

To explore the more formal political atmosphere in the schools, respondents

were asked how often they discussed and debated political and social issues

in their respective schools. On the basis of their answers, the schools were

ordered by their degree of politicization into ‘low’ and ‘high’. They

examined the relationship between school politicization in a politicized

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institutional atmosphere and their sense of political efficacy. However, the

relationship between the two variables was not found to be linear. The

impact of school was primarily at the low and medium levels of SPE.

Kini’s (1972) study of voting behaviour in Nagpur at the time of

Fourth General Elections showed that the relationship between SPE and

education was positive but low.

In the present study, an attempt has been made to know the impact

of respondent’s level of education on his SPE. The following table presents

data on respondents education and SPE—

Table–5·3

Percentage distribution of respondents according to educational level and level of sense of political efficacy

Educational level Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Illiterate 26·3

(25)

42·1

(40)

31·6

(30)

100·0

(95)

Primary 20·0

(5)

20·0

(5)

60·0

(15)

100·0

(25)

Middle— —

100·0

(5)

100·0

(5)

High School— —

100·0

(20)

100·0

(20)

Intermediate 25·0

(10)

12·5

(5)

62·5

(25)

100·0

(40)

College—

33·3

(5)

66·7

(10)

100·0

(15)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




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A look into the data presented in table 5· 3 shows that education does

influence one’s sense of political efficacy, but it is middle or more education

which matters, specially for the category of respondents with higher sense of

political efficacy. Respondents’ level of education seems to be highly

significantly associated with their level of sense of political efficacy as the

analysis of data shows that the calculated value of X 2 is greater than the

table value (23· 209) for 10 degrees of freedom. It is also evident from the

data that the effect of education is more at higher level of SPE as with the

increase in education of the respondents upto high school, there is

significant increase in the percentage of respondents having high SPE. Even

nearly two-third of the women who have education upto intermediate level

or college level exhibit high SPE. None of the college educated women has

shown low SPE.

5·5 FAMILY BACKGROUND

Baviskar (1974) has rightly observed that sociologists and social

anthropologists have generally neglected the study of role of family and

kinship in Indian politics. It is true that kinship and family do not play the

same important and crucial role in caste society as it does in a tribal society,

still it does not mean that they are irrelevant for understanding political

behaviour and Indian politics. An attempt has been made in the present

study to know the impact of family background (in terms of type of family,

position in family structure and socio-economic status of the family) in

determining one’s sense of political efficacy. Let us take various ingredients

of family background one by one.

5·5·1 TYPE OF FAMILY

According to Srinivas (1969), ‘’...........often, a group of married brothers

and their wives and children are found to live under a single roof under the

155

authority of the eldest brother. Or the domestic group consists of a man and

his wife, his married sons and their children. So domestic groups which are

bigger than the elementary family, and often include two or more

elementary families, are termed joint or extended families’’. He has also

observed that, ‘’a domestic group consisting of a man and his wife and

unmarried children is called an elementary or nuclear family’’ (1969).

Adopting these definitions of joint and nuclear families, an attempt has been

made in this study to classify families and then to see the impact of type of

family on one’s sense of political efficacy. The following table presents data

on type of family and level of sense of political efficacy—

Table–5·4

Percentage distribution of respondents according to type of family and level ofsense of political efficacy

Type of family Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Joint 20·8

(25)

29·2

(35)

50·0

(60)

100·0

(120)

Nuclear 18·8

(15)

25·0

(20)

56·3

(45)

100·0

(80)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)


Chi-square=0·76434; DF=2; Significance value = <·05


A bird eye-view of the table above would suggest that the

respondents belonging to both the types of families—joint and

nuclear—don’t have much difference in the proportions at low, medium and

high levels of SPE indicating that type of family does not determine one’s

SPE. As the calculated value of X 2 is less than its table value ( 5· 991) at 2

degrees of freedom, the association between type of family and level of SPE

is insignificant.

156

5·5·2 SIZE OF FAMILY

One of the main distinction between nuclear family and that of joint

family is the size of these two. Nuclear families have less members and hence

their size is small, whereas, the joint families have more members with the

result that their size is big. Families of sampled respondents have been

divided into three categories—small-sized families (upto the maximum of 5

members), medium-sized families (6 to 8 members), and large-sized families

(9 and more members). The information regarding size of family of the

sample and level of sense of political efficacy is presented below—

Table–5·5

Percentage distribution of respondents according to size of the family and level of sense of political efficacy

Size of the family Level of sense of political efficacy Total

Low Medium High

Small 27·3

(30)

18·2

(20)

54·5

(60)

100·0

(110)

Medium 5·9

(5)

41·2

(35)

52·9

(45)

100·0

(85)

Lage 100·0

(5)— —

100·0

(5)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




It is clearly evident from the data presented above that all the

respondents from large-sized families have low level of SPE. The proportion

of those from small-sized families is slightly more at high level of SPE,

whereas, it is more at medium level of SPE for medium-sized families. As the

157

calculated value of X 2 is much more than its table value (13· 277) at 4 degrees

of freedom, the association between the two seems to be significant.

5·5·3 POSITION IN THE FAMILY

Position in the family may also influence one’s sense of political

efficacy. The schedule was administered to different type of family

members. It was found that one-fifth of them were heads of the families,

whereas, the remaining four out of five were living under some body’s

headship (termed as non-heads in the present study). In this context, it

would be interesting to know the impact of position in family in developing

one’s sense of political efficacy. The following table presents data on

respondents’ position in family and level of their sense of political efficacy—

Table–5·6

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their position in the family and level of sense of political efficacy

Position in thefamily

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Head 25·0

(10)

37·5

(15)

37·5

(15)

100·0

(40)

Non-head 18·8

(30)

25·0

(40)

56·3

(90)

100·0

(160)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




Data presented in the above table show that non-heads have more

proportion at high level of SPE as compared to heads. In the medium level of

SPE, heads have more proportion than non-heads. Similar is the case in low

level of SPE. The calculated value of X 2 is less than its table value (5· 991) at 2

158

degrees of freedom, indicating thereby, that position in family may not be

associated with sense of political efficacy.

5·6 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS : INCOME & OCCUPATION

Status groupings in the form of caste, class, occupation or income

exist in almost all societies and it is generally believed that these groups

behave differently in politics. Persons who feel that they can cope with the

complexities of politics and believe that their participation carries weight in

the political process belong to higher socio-economic status (Campbell et.

al., 1954; Almond and Verba, 1963; Nie, Powell and Prewitt, 1969; Verba and

Nie, 1972; Rogers et. al., 1976). Socio-economic status consists of person’s

position in hierarchy of social prestige and privilege determined by such

objective criteria as his income and his formal education and such subjective

considerations as the prestige of his job. Those more highly educated and

thus with higher income and higher status occupations feel more efficacious

(Key, 1961; Pomper, 1975). Nie et. al., (1969), however, hold that there exists

no direct link between socio-economic status only through political

information. Steven (1975), in his study of acquisition of participatory norms

in case of Japanese and Mexican Americans, has shown that socio-economic

status has the greatest effect upon the Japanese American children than

Mexican American ones. However, Jackman (1970), in his study of American

children, has shown that social class has no relationship with sense of

political efficacy.

In India, much attention has not been given to the bearing of

socio-economic status of the family on sense of political efficacy. Atal (1969)

found that socio-economic status was highly related with SPE and people

with higher degree of SPE belong to lower income group and middle

occupation. Rajnarain (1972) found that the average SPE score was highest

for those in the income group of Rs. 750 and above in the urban and rural

159

constituencies, but highest in income group of Rs. 201 to 750 in the reserved

constituency. In his another study of Rai Bareli and Jaunpur constituency

(1972a), he found that the average score of SPE was higher for those in

income group of Rs. 750 and above than for lower income groups. It

decreased with the increase in income level. But Kini (1972) did not find any

association between sense of political effectiveness in politics and income.

In the present study an attempt has been made to know the bearing

of income and occupation separately on SPE. The following table presents

distribution of family income and level of SPE of the respondents—

Table–5·7

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their income and sense ofpolitical efficacy

Respondents’ monthly income

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

No income 22·2

(40)

22·2

(40)

55·6

(100)

100·0

(180)

Less than Rs. 5,000—

100·0

(5)—

100·0

(5)

Rs. 5,000 and above—

66·7

(10)

33·3

(5)

100·0

(15)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




It may be seen that respondents’ income does determine their SPE.

All the respondents having low level of SPE are those who have no income of

their own. All the respondents having income less than Rs. 5,000 have

exhibited medium level of SPE, whereas, two-third of those with monthly

income of Rs. 5,000 and above have medium level of SPE and remaining

one-third high level of SPE. Even the calculated value of X 2, which is much

160

higher than its table value (13· 277) at 4 degrees of freedom shows significant

association between the monthly income and sense of political efficacy of

respondents.

An attempt was also made to find out the impact of family income on

sense of political efficacy of respondents. The following table gives the

break-up of the respondents on this aspect—

Table–5·8

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their family income andlevel of sense of political efficacy

Family monthlyincome

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Less than Rs. 5,000 19·0

(20)

42·9

(45)

38·1

(40)

100·0

(105)

Rs. 5,001–10,000 30·8

(20)—

69·2

(45)

100·0

(65)

Rs. 10,001–15,000— —

100·0

(10)

100·0

(10)

Rs. 15,000 & above—

50·0

(10)

50·0

(10)

100·0

(20)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




Analysis of the data presented above indicates that as the income

level shows increase from less than Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000, the proportion of

respondents having high SPE increases significantly. It gets supplemented

by the analysis of respondents having low SPE as all the respondents in this

category are from low income groups. No clear trend is evident in the

category of medium SPE. The calculated value of X 2 is much greater than the

161

table value at 6 degrees of freedom (16· 812), indicating that the association

between family income and SPE is highly significant.

It is generally believed that a person’s occupation also influences his

political outlook. Membership of highly politicized occupational groups

leads to a higher sense of political efficacy and has important consequence

on one’s political behaviour. Voting behaviour studies conducted in

America have generally found that people in higher status occupations tend

to be more efficacious and active than those in the lower status occupations.

Martinussen (1973), in his study of 18 year old American students and their

middle aged parents, has challenged the basic assumption that people

acquire their attitudes and skills through socialization and has shown that

person’s place in general opportunity structure of society, like occupational

situation, determines his political efficacy. Lane’s (1963) speculation that the

SPE is not the product of occupational experience so much as the family and

strata, where one is reared, has been largely supported by recent researches.

In India, much attention has not been given to know the bearing of

occupational group identification on political efficacy. Atal’s (1971) study

reveals that people with higher degree of political efficacy belong to middle

occupations. Table 5· 9 presents data on respondents’ occupational group

and their level of SPE on the next page.

Before analyzing and interpreting the data given in table mentioned

above one or two things need to be pointed out. Firstly, an overwhelming

majority of the chosen women (80· 0 per cent) are housewives and as such

they are not engaged in any meaningful occupation. Secondly, 15· 0 per cent

respondents are either students or getting some sort of training. Hence, this

category is also not engaged in any occupation. The only category which

remains is that of business. Only 10 women in the sample (5· 0 per cent) are

engaged in business. So the analysis of occupation vis-a-vis sense of political

efficacy has to be seen within these limitations.

162

Table–5·9

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their occupation and levelof political efficacy

Occupationalcategory

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Business—

50·0

(5)

50·0

(5)

100·0

(10)

Housewife 25·0

(40)

31·3

(50)

42·8

(70)

100·0

(160)

Studying/gettingtraining — —

100·0

(30)

100·0

(30)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




Keeping in view the limitations of occupational categories, a picture

begins to emerge out of an observation of data presented in table above. All

those who are either studying or getting training have high level of SPE.

Those engaged in business have either medium or high level of SPE. As

regards the housewives, majority of them exhibit high level of SPE, but

one-fourth of them fall in low category of SPE and nearly one-third at

medium category of SPE. The calculated value of X 2 is much greater than

the table value (13· 277) at 4 degrees of freedom, indicating highly

significant association between the occupational category and the SPE of

respondents.

5·7 NATIVITY

Nativity is also supposed to play an important role in determining

one’s sense of political efficacy. It has been shown that longer a person

resides in a given community, the greater is the likelihood of his being

politically efficacious and participation in politics (Dowse and Hughes,

163

1975). This has been confirmed by different studies in United States, Finland

and Britain, but in India, no attempt has been made to know the impact of

nativity on sense of political efficacy. In the present study respondents have

been classified into two categories natives (who have been living in

respective villages since birth) and out-siders (who have settled from

elsewhere). The following table presents data on respondents’ nativity and

level of sense of political efficacy—

Table–5·10

Percentage distribution of respondents according to nativity and level of senseof political efficacy

Nativity Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Natives 21·1

(40)

26·3

(50)

52·6

(100)

100·0

(190)

Outsiders (settled from elsewhere) —

50·0

(5)

50·0

(5)

100·0

(10)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




It is evident from the data presented in the table above that the

natives have high proportion at low and high levels of SPE than outsiders

taken together, but their proportion is much less than the outsiders in

medium SPE level. This shows that outsiders have slightly more SPE than

the natives. The calculated value of X 2 is much higher than the table value

(9· 210) at 2 degrees of freedom, showing that the two attributes have

significant association with one another.

164

5·8 ETHNICITY AND RELIGION

Sociological literature dealing with the social psychological status of

minority groups and races has shown their differential response to politics.

It has been shown that Jews are more efficacious than Catholics, who in turn,

are more efficacious and active than Protestants. Subordinate position of

Blacks in the stratification system in USA has negative personality

consequences. Studies of racial differences in the sense of political efficacy

have demonstrated that Blacks feel less politically powerful than Whites

(Martinussen, 1973; Kleiman, 1977). On the other hand, Abramson’s (1972)

and Guests’ (1974) studies of Black and White differences in political efficacy

don’t support this correlation. If we control education (as has been done by

Abramson), Black children do not differ from Whites in sense of political

efficacy. Rajnarain’s (1972) study of voting behaviour in Uttar Pradesh

shows that Muslims have a higher average score for sense of political

efficacy than Hindus in the urban and reserved constituencies; but Hindus

have a higher score than Muslims in the rural constituency. In another study

of Rai Bareli and Jaunpur constituencies, he found that the average score was

higher for Hindus than Muslims. Atal’s (1971) study in the same state shows

that the Jains have a distinctly high sense of political efficacy, the Hindus

and Muslims have the same value. Pathak (1972) noticed high sense of

political efficacy among minorities in his study of voting behaviour in

Gujarat. Some scholars, while delineating the essential profiles of the

‘’political culture’’ of a section of Christians, have put forward the view that

the political culture of a community must necessarily determine or atleast

affect political efficacy vis-a-vis that community. But this remains to be

empirically tested not only in Christians but in other religious minorities

also. Moreover, in India, there is need to study the extent of sense of political

efficacy of religious minorities, particularly in the present political

165

conditions when new pressure groups are developing among them and

votes of these minority groups are becoming more crucial in the power

game.

As all the chosen women are Hindus, no attempt has been made to

find out the impact of religion on their sense of political efficacy.

5·9 POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

The most direct and most powerful social influences on sense of

political efficacy are those exerted by political socialization by primary

groups, specially families, peer-groups and neighbourhood. The role of

family as initiator of the process of socialization is well known. Being first in

time and first in place, it lays foundation for future orientation and training.

Like all other learning, political learning also begins at home. This can be

either mostly deliberate or largely unplanned. Of all social groups, the most

homogeneous politically are husband-wife pairs. Campbell et. al., (1954,

1960) have shown that in 90 to 95 per cent of all pairs, the two partners have

same preferences, though it is not uncommon for the husband to be

politically involved and the wife apathetic, and this often results in the

wife’s voting as her husband tells her. Politically conscious and committed

parents may take steps to educate the child in this aspect of societal life; in

other cases, children may pick up ideas, symbols and images relating the

political system by watching their parents and the social surroundings.

Almond and Verba (1963) have shown that the citizen whose family

experiences have encouraged expression of political preferences is likely to

feel more efficacious.

Langton and Karns’ (1969) study indicates that children reared in

politicized families, i. e., the families in which parents are interested in

politics, discuss politics among themselves and also participate in political

166

activities develop sense of political efficacy than are those children from less

politicized families. Their study indicates that the level of family

politicization is an important factor in moving children from low to medium

efficacy, but apparently has less effect in moving children into the high

efficacy category. In India, no significant attempt has been made to study the

influences of family members on children’s sense of political efficacy except

for Gupta’s (1973) study which underlines the importance of two main

factors affecting the sense of efficacy. These factors are father’s participation

in politics and exposure to mass media. Chauhan et. al., (1975) have shown

in their study of high school Scheduled Castes students in U. P. that as the

level of education of father records an increase, there is an increasing degree

of politicization among the children, which may, inturn, spell higher SPE.

More studies are needed to determine the extent of politicization in family

and its bearing on sense of political efficacy of children in Indian context.

Like family, peer-group (consisting of friends and co-workers) and

neighbourhood also have important influences on sense of political efficacy.

To investigate the politicization—political efficacy hypothesis with the

peer-groups, Langton and Karns (1969) arranged these groups on a

politicization continuum based on the amount of political discussion within

the peer-group. Those in the least politicized peer-groups, i. e., those in

which they and their friends ‘’never’’ discuss politics, have a low sense of

political efficacy. There is an increase in efficacy as one moves from the least

to the most politicized peer-groups.

Langton and Karns’ (1969) study of the relative influence of the

family, peer-group and school in the development of political efficacy

among a national sample of Jamaican adolescents reveals that family is more

influential than the peer-groups or school in this respect. In Indian setting no

study has been undertaken to reveal the effect of political socialization by

167

family, peer-groups and neighbourhood on the development of sense of

political efficacy.

It would be interesting to know the bearing of political socialization

on one’s SPE. The following table presents data on respondents’ levels of

political socialization and sense of political efficacy.

Table–5·11

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their levels of politicalsocialization and sense of political efficacy

Level of politicalsocialization

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Low—

16·7

(5)

83·3

(25)

100·0

(30)

Moderate 29·2

(35)

20·8

(25)

50·0

(60)

100·0

(120)

High 10·0

(5)

50·0

(25)

40·0

(20)

100·0

(50)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




The data presented in above table show that one’s political

socialization does influence one’s level of sense of political efficacy. Since the

calculated value of X 2 is much greater than the table value (16· 812) at 6

degrees of freedom, political socialization seems to be highly significantly

associated with sense of political efficacy. The relationship seems to be

inverse as with the increase in level of political socialization, the proportion

of SPE at high level shows significant decrease. This is further supplemented

from the data in medium category of SPE where the proportion of SPE

increases significantly with the increase in political socialization.

168

5·10 ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Organizational affiliations have an impact on one’s sense of political

efficacy. It has been shown that efficacious persons belong to majority of

ethnic and religious groups as well as other voluntary organizations

(Campbell et. al., 1954; Almond and Verba, 1963; Nie, Powell and Prewitt,

1969; Verba and Nie, 1972; Rogers et. al., 1976; Sheth, 1978 among others).

These studies attempt to explain differential political efficacy on the basis of

differential organizational affiliations. The citizens with the organizational

affiliations tend to show higher sense of political efficacy. Mathiason and

Powell’s (1972) study of personal involvement in political mobilization

shows that high level of efficacy among Venezuelian peasants derives

primarily from participation in peasant unions and specifically varies by the

quality of the organizations and of the individual participation. Contrary to

these observations Kini’s (1972) study of voting behaviour in Nagpur at the

time of Fourth General Elections in India, shows that membership of

associations is not in itself sufficient to boost sense of political efficacy. Those

who are members of trade unions have high sense of political efficacy, while

members of other associations (including caste associations) do not have it.

The combined effect of education and organizational, affiliations has

also been taken note of in these studies. It has been shown that literacy and

organizational affiliation behave fairly independent of each other in

American setting, whereas, in Indian setting Sheth’s (1978) study of 2,118

male Indian citizens drawn from all the Indian states and union territories at

the time of 1971 General Elections indicates that sense of political efficacy is

largely a function of education. The other structural variables, including

organizational affiliations, add little to what it explained of political efficacy

by education alone. Organizational affiliation, however, helps the illiterates

169

and low educated to acquire some sense of power in mass politics, but its

influence in this respect is not strong enough to bring them at par with that of

the high educated non-members. In the light of these observations, it would

be interesting to look into the empirical data collected for the present study.

Three types of associational affiliations have been taken into consideration,

namely, organizational affiliations (mainly caste and religious or welfare

associations) and political parties. The following table presents data on

respondents’ organizational affiliations and sense of political efficacy—

Table–5·12

Percentage distribution of respondents organizational affiliation and level ofsense of political efficacy

Membership ofvoluntary

organizations

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Member—

100·0

(5)—

100·0

(5)

Member in past 16·2

(30)

27·0

(50)

56·8

(105)

100·0

(185)

Non-member 100·0

(10)— —

100·0

(10)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




Data presented above show that the majority of the respondents are

not having membership in voluntary organizations. It is also evident that

non-membership corresponds with low efficacy, whereas, membership

corresponds with medium level of sense of political efficacy. The calculated

value of X 2 also validates the findings that membership in voluntary

organizations increases the sense of political efficacy.

170

Now we come to another dimension of associational affiliations,

namely, the membership of political parties. The following table presents

data on respondents’ affiliations with political parties and their sense of

political efficacy—

Table–5·13

Percentage distribution of respondents according to membership of politicalparties and their level of sense of political efficacy

Membership ofpolitical parties

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Members—

100·0

(5)—

100·0

(5)

Non-members 16·2

(30)

27·0

(50)

56·8

(105)

100·0

(185)

Can’t tell 100·0

(10)— —

100·0

(10)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




It would be observed that an overwhelming majority of the

respondents are not members of political parties. All the members exhibit

medium level of SPE, whereas, more than half non-members have high level

of SPE. Those who did not respond to the question of membership of

political parties, have low level of SPE. As the calculated value of X 2 is much

greater than the table value (13· 277) at 4 degrees of freedom, membership of

political parties seems to be highly significantly associated with sense of

political efficacy.

171

5·11 POLITICAL AWARENESS

Political awareness among citizens is supposed to have profound

impact on their sense of political efficacy. Atal (1971) has shown that people

with high sense of political efficacy also have high score on political

awareness and political participation. The following table presents data on

the levels of political awareness and sense of political efficacy among the

respondents—

Table–5·14

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their levels of politicalawareness and sense of political efficacy

Level of politicalawareness

Level of sense of political efficacy Total

Low Medium High

Low 31·8

(35)

36·4

(40)

31·8

(35)

100·0

(110)

Moderate—

10·0

(5)

90·0

(45)

100·0

(50)

High 12·5

(5)

25·0

(10)

62·5

(25)

100·0

(40)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




It is evident from the data presented in the table above that one’s

level of political awareness does influence one’s level of sense of political

efficacy. As one moves from politically low aware category to highly aware

category, the proportion of respondents having low efficacy decreases

significantly. The similar tendency is evidenced in the level of medium SPE.

Moderate level of political awareness leads to high level of political efficacy.

The calculated value of X 2 is much higher than the table value (16· 812) at 6

172

degrees of freedom, showing that political awareness and sense of political

efficacy are highly significantly correlated.

5·12 SENSE OF CITIZEN DUTY

Sense of citizen duty (also called ‘sense of political responsibility’ or

‘sense of civic competence’) is the feeling that one-self and others ought to

participate in the political process, regardless of whether such political

activity is seen as worthwhile or efficacious. Campbell et. al., (1954) have

shown that sense of citizen duty is positively related with sense of political

efficacy among American citizens. In India, the relationship between these

two has not been explored. It is hypothesized that the strength of this sense

of citizen duty would be positively related with sense of political efficacy.

The following table presents data on respondents’ levels of sense of citizen

duty and sense of political efficacy—

Table–5·15

Percentage distribution of respondents levels of sense of citizen duty and sense of political efficacy

Level of sense ofcitizen duty

Level of sense of political efficacy Total

Low Medium High

Low — — — —

Moderate 33·3

(10)

66·7

(20)—

100·0

(30)

High 17·6

(30)

20·6

(35)

61·8

(105)

100·0

(170)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




173

It is evident from the data presented in the preceding table that none

of the chosen women has low level of sense of citizen duty. It is also clear that

one’s level of sense of citizen duty does influence one’s level of political

efficacy. Majority of the women with moderate level of sense of citizen duty

have exhibited medium level of sense of political efficacy. On the contrary, a

little less than two-third women having high level of SPE exhibit high level

of political efficacy. The calculated value of X 2 is much greater than the table

value (9· 210) at 2 degrees of freedom, indicating that sense of citizen duty

and sense of political efficacy are highly significantly associated.

5·13 EXPOSURE TO MASS MEDIA

Recent conceptualization in the social sciences has built a rather

sophisticated communications theory. Communication has been conceived

as forming the ‘’web of human society’’. It is contended that all social life can

be studied in terms of communication structure; this is because the very

relations between man and man depend on his capacity to communicate.

Thus, it is argued by Schramm (1964) that : (i) the kinds of materials that flow

through the communication channels determine the value system of a

society; (ii) the size of communication structure—the mass media and their

audiences—reflects the economic development of a society; (iii) the pattern

of communications network which determine where information flows and

who shares it with whom reflect the homogeneity of a people; and (iv) the

ownership of the communications facilities, i. e., the purposeful use and

control of communications, reflects the political philosophy in a system.

Perceived in this fashion, the term communication means the whole

business of human intercourse, i. e., man’s capacity to send and receive in

countless ways both intended and unintended messages. The term

communication, however, is also applied to a particular institution or

174

industry, that of the mass media—the press, radio, TV, and films. Here we

are concerned with the question of how exposure to mass media of

communications affects the level of sense of political efficacy among the

respondents.

Differential exposure to mass media of communication has

important consequences on general information and sense of political

efficacy. Rising levels of socio-economic status particularly increased

education, income and higher status, jobs are accompanied by increased

contact with mass media, which in turn tends to increase the level of general

information and sense of political efficacy. Mathiason and Powell (1972)

found that a feeling of national efficacy is principally the result of reading

newspapers.

Atal’s (1971) study reveals positive relationship between exposure

and SPE if the high and medium categories of political efficacy are coalesced.

Gupta (1973) has also shown that exposure to mass media is one of the

important factors affecting the sense of political efficacy. Rajnarain (1972a)

has found positive and highly significant correlation between exposure to

campaign media and SPE. Pathak’s (1977) study of political behaviour in

Gujarat during 1971 Parliamentary Elections also shows that high exposure

to mass media of communication produces high SPE, though the reverse

was not true. More systematic studies are needed to reveal the relative role

of different agencies of mass communication in developing sense of political

efficacy in a country like India where nearly 65 per cent of population is still

illiterate and radios, television and films are considered more the means of

recreation rather than of political socialization. Table 5· 16 presents data on

respondents levels of exposure to mass media and sense of political efficacy

on next page.

175

Table–5·16

Percentage distribution of respondents according to their levels of exposure tomass media and sense of political efficacy

Level of mass mediaexposure

Level of SPE Total

Low Medium High

Low 32·0

(40)

32·0

(40)

36·0

(45)

100·0

(125)

Moderate —

15·4

(10)

84·6

(55)

100·0

(65)

High —

50·0

(5)

50·0

(5)

100·0

(10)

Total 20·0(40)

27·5(55)

52·5(105)

100·0(200)




The analysis of data presented in above table shows that all the

women having low level of sense of political efficacy are those who have low

level of mass media exposure. Moderate level of mass media exposure is

found to lead to high level of sense of political efficacy. None of the women

having high level of mass media exposure exhibits low level of sense of

political efficacy. The value of X 2 also confirms that there is highly

significant association between the extent of mass media exposure and the

level of sense of political efficacy.

The analysis of the determinants of SPE carried so far offers us

illuminating insights into its causation. At least, it helps us to identify and

measure the antecedents of sense of political efficacy. Age, marital status,

respondents’ education, size of family, income, occupation, nativity,

176

political socialization, organizational affiliations, membership of political

parties, political awareness, sense of citizen duty and mass media exposure

are found to be significant determinants or antecedents of sense of political

efficacy.

Logically the question which now arises is : What are the

implications or consequences of the extent of sense of political efficacy found

among the chosen women from Scheduled Tribe for their voting behaviour,

political participation and political satisfaction. The same forms the main

theme of the chapter which follows.

177

determinants of political efficacy among scheduled tribe...

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