Demographics and Democracy

A Network Analysis of Mongolians' Political Cognition

Bibliographic Data

ID2225871
AuthorsP L W Sabloff (0000-0001-6906-3382, Santa Fe Institute), Paula Lw Sabloff, Stefan Thurner (0000-0003-2495-6819, Complexity Science Hub Vienna), Rudolf Hanel (0000-0002-4045-9532, Medical University of Vienna), Hyejin Youn (0000-0002-6190-4412, Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations)
Year2017
Volume73
Issue4
Pages617-646
Publication date2017-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/694431
OpenAlexW2760239276
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited22

As anthropologists study complex societies and large databases, we have to ask whether using demographic divisions within a population help or hinder our understanding of people’s cognition, particularly political cognition. Using a database of 1,283 interviews gathered in Mongolia in 1998 and 2003, the authors divide the sample population by the demographic categories of location, gender, education level attained, and age. We use network analysis to note differences in network structure and textual analysis to learn how Mongolians characterize democracy as they emerge from Soviet-style socialism. We find that even though Mongolians are a rather homogeneous society, people’s concept of democracy varies by demographic category. We conclude that because experience often varies with a person’s position in society, demography correlates with people’s perception of democracy and therefore remains a valid and helpful way to study the political culture of a population

Cognition · Democracy · Demographics · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Sociology · Demography · Law · Medicine · Political Conflict and Governance · Religion and Society Interactions · Social and Cultural Dynamics

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub