Erik Amnå
Biographic Data
| ID | 4213407 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Erik Amnå |
| GIVEN NAMES | Erik |
| FAMILY NAME | Amnå |
| SIGNATURE | AMNÅ E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Örebro University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8311-0982 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 337 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
When Standby Citizens Step In
Accusations of political passivity are often directed towards citizens, especially the youth. This study challenges the prevailing narrative by exploring the latent dimensions of political participation, and in particular the role of ‘standby citizens’, that is, those who are politically interested yet non-participatory. We propose that these individuals engage in behavioural activism when they perceive governmental actions as failing to meet the…
Setting societal engagement goals during adolescence amplifies the impacts of political interest on political activities during young adulthood
This study examines whether youth’s goals for their future societal engagement affect their future political activities. We hypothesized, first, that youth’s political interest would be a central predictor of their future political activities and, second, that their goals for future societal engagement would moderate their political interest. The greatest future political activity would be among youth who were both politically interested and had …
Basic Values Transform Political Interest into Diverse Political Values, Attitudes and Behaviors
Since politically interested adolescents do not necessarily present humanistic, environmental and democratic values, this study addresses the hitherto ignored role that how these basic human values play in politically interested adolescents’ political values, attitudes and behaviors. A cluster analysis of 857 Swedish upper-secondary students (50.8% girls, M age = 16.62, SD = 0.71) identified politically interested adolescents who attached high le…
Why Some Adolescents Are Open To Their Parents’ Political Communication
This study examines the conditions that make adolescents open to their parents’ attempts at political socialization. Based on a reformulation of the perceptual accuracy argument, that parents’ messages are filtered through correct perceptions of these messages by adolescents, the study suggests that adolescents who accurately recognize their parents’ high political sophistication are particularly likely to attend to and be open to their parents’ …
Adolescents’ Patterns of Citizenship Orientations and Correlated Contextual Variables
Studies on youth participation tend to characterize youth as either active and trustful or as passive and alienated. This cross-national and longitudinal study examines patterns of citizenship orientations characterized by both manifest and latent involvement differentiated by one’s position toward institutional politics (trustful or distrustful) among 1,914 adolescents from five European countries (53.5% female; M age = 16.27). Demographic and p…
The longitudinal relation between online and offline political participation among youth at two different developmental stages
The role played by the Internet in young people’s political lives has received great research attention. However, two gaps in the literature hinder the drawing of conclusions on how online political participation is related to its offline counterpart. First, although there are multiple hypotheses on the nature of the relationship, they have not been compared in any single study. Second, although the relation may differ according to developmental …
The Personality Divide
Personality traits are considered efficient predictors of off-line political participation. However, the effects of personality traits on online political engagement have been largely understudied. The main goal of this cross-sectional research ( N = 1,134, sample of young adults) was to investigate the relationships between personality traits, as measured by the Big Five Inventory, and online political engagement. As dependent variables, we took…
Standby citizens
The current debate on political participation is bound to a discussion about whether citizens are active or passive. This dichotomous notion is nurtured by an extensive normative debate concerning whether passivity is an asset or a threat to democracy; and it is especially manifest in studies of young people's political orientations. Drawing on this discussion, the present study goes beyond the dichotomy by keeping political interest conceptually…
How is civic engagement developed over time? Emerging answers from a multidisciplinary field
Insights into the development of civic values, attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviours are greatly demanded by adults worried about a seemingly steady decline in the societal interest of their offspring. Hence, the collection of studies in this special issue on civic engagement in adolescence is not only timely and enlightening, but it also has the potentials to contribute to research in different disciplines on various dimensions, mechanisms…
Political participation and civic engagement
Reviewing the literature on political participation and civic engagement, the article offers a critical examination of different conceptual frameworks. Drawing on previous definitions and operationalisations, a new typology for political participation and civic engagement is developed, highlighting the multidimensionality of both concepts. In particular, it makes a clear distinction between manifest “political participation” (including formal pol…
The End of a Distinctive Model of Democracy? Country‐diverse Orientations among Young Adult Scandinavians
International research into democracy has uncovered severe changes in patterns of political engagement and participation. Even political institutions such as political parties and voluntary organisations have undergone major alterations. Scandinavian democracies hitherto have been regarded as exceptionally stable and strong due to their homogenous qualities of mass‐based class politics, strong political parties, high degree of associationalism, p…
Still a trustworthy ally? Civil society and the transformation of Scandinavian democracy
The comparative strength of Scandinavian democracy is perceived to depend on its close connection with a widespread and membership-based associational life that cultivates orientations and behaviour in harmony with an active, egalitarian citizenship. However, at the end of the twentieth century, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish governmental audits simultaneously revealed that the integrated Scandinavian model of democracy appeared not only to be di…
Autonomous Arenas of Pluralism or Contracted Coordinators of Governance? Response to Lorentzen's & Wijkström's Commentaries on my Article “Still a Trustworthy Ally? Civil Society and the Transformatio…
Autonomous arenas of pluralism or contracted coordinators of governance? : Responses to Lorentzen's & Wijkstrom's commentaries on my article Still a trustworthy ally? Civil society and the transformation of Scandinavian democracy
Playing with fire? Swedish mobilization for participatory democracy
Swedish service democracy is solidly based on a successful welfare state configuration. When good social services are received, citizens reciprocate with their stabilizing trust and legitimacy. Towards the turn of the last century, several economic, organizational and ideological foundations of Swedish representative democracy were faltering, owing to exogenous trends as well as to self-inflicted actions. A governmental commission was set up in 1…
Föreningslivet i Sverige
There is a long tradition of high levels of membership and participation in voluntary associations in the Scandinavian area, with origins reaching back in the 19th century, and still playing a key role in political as well as in private life. In comparative perspective, memberships and activity levels are extreme in Sweden. Sweden has been named a popular-movement democracy, where associations serve a special function to bind together a homogenou…
New Managerialism” in Swedish Local Government
This article examines initiatives for organizational reform in Swedish local government. The analysis investigates these initiatives in the context of reform efforts found in many modern democracies, with particular reference to the development of “new managerialism”. An empirical analysis of local government reform decisions is presented in order to determine the principal objectives and direction of reform initiatives. The analysis reveals that…
Standby citizens
The current debate on political participation is bound to a discussion about whether citizens are active or passive. This dichotomous notion is nurtured by an extensive normative debate concerning whether passivity is an asset or a threat to democracy; and it is especially manifest in studies of young people's political orientations. Drawing on this discussion, the present study goes beyond the dichotomy by keeping political interest conceptually…
Political participation and civic engagement
Reviewing the literature on political participation and civic engagement, the article offers a critical examination of different conceptual frameworks. Drawing on previous definitions and operationalisations, a new typology for political participation and civic engagement is developed, highlighting the multidimensionality of both concepts. In particular, it makes a clear distinction between manifest “political participation” (including formal pol…
The longitudinal relation between online and offline political participation among youth at two different developmental stages
The role played by the Internet in young people’s political lives has received great research attention. However, two gaps in the literature hinder the drawing of conclusions on how online political participation is related to its offline counterpart. First, although there are multiple hypotheses on the nature of the relationship, they have not been compared in any single study. Second, although the relation may differ according to developmental …
Playing with fire? Swedish mobilization for participatory democracy
Swedish service democracy is solidly based on a successful welfare state configuration. When good social services are received, citizens reciprocate with their stabilizing trust and legitimacy. Towards the turn of the last century, several economic, organizational and ideological foundations of Swedish representative democracy were faltering, owing to exogenous trends as well as to self-inflicted actions. A governmental commission was set up in 1…
Still a trustworthy ally? Civil society and the transformation of Scandinavian democracy
The comparative strength of Scandinavian democracy is perceived to depend on its close connection with a widespread and membership-based associational life that cultivates orientations and behaviour in harmony with an active, egalitarian citizenship. However, at the end of the twentieth century, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish governmental audits simultaneously revealed that the integrated Scandinavian model of democracy appeared not only to be di…
New Managerialism” in Swedish Local Government
This article examines initiatives for organizational reform in Swedish local government. The analysis investigates these initiatives in the context of reform efforts found in many modern democracies, with particular reference to the development of “new managerialism”. An empirical analysis of local government reform decisions is presented in order to determine the principal objectives and direction of reform initiatives. The analysis reveals that…
The Personality Divide
Personality traits are considered efficient predictors of off-line political participation. However, the effects of personality traits on online political engagement have been largely understudied. The main goal of this cross-sectional research ( N = 1,134, sample of young adults) was to investigate the relationships between personality traits, as measured by the Big Five Inventory, and online political engagement. As dependent variables, we took…
The End of a Distinctive Model of Democracy? Country‐diverse Orientations among Young Adult Scandinavians
International research into democracy has uncovered severe changes in patterns of political engagement and participation. Even political institutions such as political parties and voluntary organisations have undergone major alterations. Scandinavian democracies hitherto have been regarded as exceptionally stable and strong due to their homogenous qualities of mass‐based class politics, strong political parties, high degree of associationalism, p…
Why Some Adolescents Are Open To Their Parents’ Political Communication
This study examines the conditions that make adolescents open to their parents’ attempts at political socialization. Based on a reformulation of the perceptual accuracy argument, that parents’ messages are filtered through correct perceptions of these messages by adolescents, the study suggests that adolescents who accurately recognize their parents’ high political sophistication are particularly likely to attend to and be open to their parents’ …
Adolescents’ Patterns of Citizenship Orientations and Correlated Contextual Variables
Studies on youth participation tend to characterize youth as either active and trustful or as passive and alienated. This cross-national and longitudinal study examines patterns of citizenship orientations characterized by both manifest and latent involvement differentiated by one’s position toward institutional politics (trustful or distrustful) among 1,914 adolescents from five European countries (53.5% female; M age = 16.27). Demographic and p…
Föreningslivet i Sverige
There is a long tradition of high levels of membership and participation in voluntary associations in the Scandinavian area, with origins reaching back in the 19th century, and still playing a key role in political as well as in private life. In comparative perspective, memberships and activity levels are extreme in Sweden. Sweden has been named a popular-movement democracy, where associations serve a special function to bind together a homogenou…
Basic Values Transform Political Interest into Diverse Political Values, Attitudes and Behaviors
Since politically interested adolescents do not necessarily present humanistic, environmental and democratic values, this study addresses the hitherto ignored role that how these basic human values play in politically interested adolescents’ political values, attitudes and behaviors. A cluster analysis of 857 Swedish upper-secondary students (50.8% girls, M age = 16.62, SD = 0.71) identified politically interested adolescents who attached high le…
New Managerialism” in Swedish Local Government
This article examines initiatives for organizational reform in Swedish local government. The analysis investigates these initiatives in the context of reform efforts found in many modern democracies, with particular reference to the development of “new managerialism”. An empirical analysis of local government reform decisions is presented in order to determine the principal objectives and direction of reform initiatives. The analysis reveals that…
Föreningslivet i Sverige
There is a long tradition of high levels of membership and participation in voluntary associations in the Scandinavian area, with origins reaching back in the 19th century, and still playing a key role in political as well as in private life. In comparative perspective, memberships and activity levels are extreme in Sweden. Sweden has been named a popular-movement democracy, where associations serve a special function to bind together a homogenou…
Still a trustworthy ally? Civil society and the transformation of Scandinavian democracy
The comparative strength of Scandinavian democracy is perceived to depend on its close connection with a widespread and membership-based associational life that cultivates orientations and behaviour in harmony with an active, egalitarian citizenship. However, at the end of the twentieth century, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish governmental audits simultaneously revealed that the integrated Scandinavian model of democracy appeared not only to be di…
Autonomous Arenas of Pluralism or Contracted Coordinators of Governance? Response to Lorentzen's & Wijkström's Commentaries on my Article “Still a Trustworthy Ally? Civil Society and the Transformatio…
Autonomous arenas of pluralism or contracted coordinators of governance? : Responses to Lorentzen's & Wijkstrom's commentaries on my article Still a trustworthy ally? Civil society and the transformation of Scandinavian democracy
Playing with fire? Swedish mobilization for participatory democracy
Swedish service democracy is solidly based on a successful welfare state configuration. When good social services are received, citizens reciprocate with their stabilizing trust and legitimacy. Towards the turn of the last century, several economic, organizational and ideological foundations of Swedish representative democracy were faltering, owing to exogenous trends as well as to self-inflicted actions. A governmental commission was set up in 1…
The End of a Distinctive Model of Democracy? Country‐diverse Orientations among Young Adult Scandinavians
International research into democracy has uncovered severe changes in patterns of political engagement and participation. Even political institutions such as political parties and voluntary organisations have undergone major alterations. Scandinavian democracies hitherto have been regarded as exceptionally stable and strong due to their homogenous qualities of mass‐based class politics, strong political parties, high degree of associationalism, p…
How is civic engagement developed over time? Emerging answers from a multidisciplinary field
Insights into the development of civic values, attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviours are greatly demanded by adults worried about a seemingly steady decline in the societal interest of their offspring. Hence, the collection of studies in this special issue on civic engagement in adolescence is not only timely and enlightening, but it also has the potentials to contribute to research in different disciplines on various dimensions, mechanisms…
Political participation and civic engagement
Reviewing the literature on political participation and civic engagement, the article offers a critical examination of different conceptual frameworks. Drawing on previous definitions and operationalisations, a new typology for political participation and civic engagement is developed, highlighting the multidimensionality of both concepts. In particular, it makes a clear distinction between manifest “political participation” (including formal pol…
Standby citizens
The current debate on political participation is bound to a discussion about whether citizens are active or passive. This dichotomous notion is nurtured by an extensive normative debate concerning whether passivity is an asset or a threat to democracy; and it is especially manifest in studies of young people's political orientations. Drawing on this discussion, the present study goes beyond the dichotomy by keeping political interest conceptually…
The Personality Divide
Personality traits are considered efficient predictors of off-line political participation. However, the effects of personality traits on online political engagement have been largely understudied. The main goal of this cross-sectional research ( N = 1,134, sample of young adults) was to investigate the relationships between personality traits, as measured by the Big Five Inventory, and online political engagement. As dependent variables, we took…
The longitudinal relation between online and offline political participation among youth at two different developmental stages
The role played by the Internet in young people’s political lives has received great research attention. However, two gaps in the literature hinder the drawing of conclusions on how online political participation is related to its offline counterpart. First, although there are multiple hypotheses on the nature of the relationship, they have not been compared in any single study. Second, although the relation may differ according to developmental …
Adolescents’ Patterns of Citizenship Orientations and Correlated Contextual Variables
Studies on youth participation tend to characterize youth as either active and trustful or as passive and alienated. This cross-national and longitudinal study examines patterns of citizenship orientations characterized by both manifest and latent involvement differentiated by one’s position toward institutional politics (trustful or distrustful) among 1,914 adolescents from five European countries (53.5% female; M age = 16.27). Demographic and p…
Basic Values Transform Political Interest into Diverse Political Values, Attitudes and Behaviors
Since politically interested adolescents do not necessarily present humanistic, environmental and democratic values, this study addresses the hitherto ignored role that how these basic human values play in politically interested adolescents’ political values, attitudes and behaviors. A cluster analysis of 857 Swedish upper-secondary students (50.8% girls, M age = 16.62, SD = 0.71) identified politically interested adolescents who attached high le…
Why Some Adolescents Are Open To Their Parents’ Political Communication
This study examines the conditions that make adolescents open to their parents’ attempts at political socialization. Based on a reformulation of the perceptual accuracy argument, that parents’ messages are filtered through correct perceptions of these messages by adolescents, the study suggests that adolescents who accurately recognize their parents’ high political sophistication are particularly likely to attend to and be open to their parents’ …
Setting societal engagement goals during adolescence amplifies the impacts of political interest on political activities during young adulthood
This study examines whether youth’s goals for their future societal engagement affect their future political activities. We hypothesized, first, that youth’s political interest would be a central predictor of their future political activities and, second, that their goals for future societal engagement would moderate their political interest. The greatest future political activity would be among youth who were both politically interested and had …
When Standby Citizens Step In
Accusations of political passivity are often directed towards citizens, especially the youth. This study challenges the prevailing narrative by exploring the latent dimensions of political participation, and in particular the role of ‘standby citizens’, that is, those who are politically interested yet non-participatory. We propose that these individuals engage in behavioural activism when they perceive governmental actions as failing to meet the…
Political science (15 works) · Politics (15 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Social Media and Politics (12 works) · Law (9 works) · Democracy (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Social science (6 works)