The Politics of Personal Crisis

How Life Disruptions Shape Political Participation

Bibliographic Data

ID6333151
AuthorsCatalina Ojeda (0000-0001-9775-8341, University of California, Merced), James Michener (0000-0002-7343-442X, Cornell University), Jake Haselswerdt (0000-0002-8527-0506, University of California, Merced)
Year2024
Volume46
Issue4
Pages2611-2630
Publication date2024-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0190-9320 • E-ISSN: 1573-6687
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11109-024-09933-x
OpenAlexW4395701789
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited57

Economic risk and instability are urgent and central facts in the lives of increasing numbers of Americans. Though experienced as “personal,” the causes of life disruptions like unemployment, eviction, and loss of health insurance are also deeply political. In this paper, we build on existing “single crisis” studies to offer a comprehensive theoretical and empirical picture of how life disruptions shape political behavior. We use several large surveys to show that personal crises generally dampen turnout but sometimes spur other political acts. We also find that highly politicized crises (such as those related to COVID) boost all forms of participation. Our findings speak to the importance of considering life disruptions in the study of political behavior, particularly in an era when the lives of Americans are especially precarious

Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology

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