ABSTRACT
The need continuously to foster democratic values of citizenship participation and involvement is a prominent issue in contemporary political science literature (e.g., Box 1998 and 1999; Frederickson 1982 and 1997; King, Feltey, and Susel 1998; King and Stivers 1998). Barner and Rosenwein (1985) argued that “[d]emocratic values are in essence participatory values. At the heart of democratic theory is the notion that people should get involved in the process of governing themselves …” (p. 59). Furthermore, Guyton (1988) suggested that those who do not participate politically are likely to have a highly undemocratic view of the world. To date, studies have been preoccupied with important questions on the nature of these values, their construct and meaning, and their existence and change over time and across cultures (Almond and Verba 1963; Verba, Nie, and Kim 1978; Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995). Consensus had also arisen among scholars on the centrality of citizenship involvement in the democratic process, and it has been argued that theory should further suggest better explanations of how democratic values such as high participation and widespread involvement emerge, develop, and transform in an ultradynamic and highly demanding modern society.
