Research On Political Attitude And Political Participation Of The Middle Class

The adjustment of China's industrial structure and the transformation of the economic system gave birth to a great wave of modern industries.The rapid development of new industries,such as the Internet,culture,and so on,has been providing a large number of opportunities for social mobility,so that the original solidified social class structure loosened and continued to divide.In the process of social stratum differentiation and reorganization,the middle class rises quietly and continues to grow,so that in many respects it has formed obvious differentiation with other strata.Taking into consideration the high correlation between the middle class and the democratic political development,this study examines the political value orientation and the development trend of the middle class under the background of the correlation between economic development and political democracy.This paperdiscusses the influence and restriction effect of middle-class political attitude on political participation.This study examines three groups of research questions as follows.The first is about the characteristics of the middle class.This paper examines the characteristics of the middle class groups in terms of consumption pattern,life and leisure style and subjective class identity,which are constructed from the three dimensions of consumption pattern,life and leisure style and subjective class identity.The second relates to the political attitude of the middle class.This paper describes the middle class's political attitude measurement dimension and its internal differences in the dimensions of political trust,social conflict cognition,political efficacy and social equity,etc.The influence factor of each dimension of political attitude is discussed as well.The third research question is the influence of middle class political attitude on political participation behavior.This paper analyzes the political participation of all levels and discusses the influence of political attitude on political participation.Based on the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey(CGSS 2010)data,the study focuses on the three groups of research questions mentioned above.With regard to the characteristics of the middle class and the identity of the subjective class,the study came to some conclusions as follows.Firstly,at this stage,despite its small proportion in the total population,measured by three indicators of income level,occupation category and educational capital,the middle class has shown obvious class characteristics in life and leisure style and consumption pattern.Secondly,objective economic status is an important factor affecting subjective class identity,and the proportion of self-identity of core middle class group is obviously higher than that of other groups.Thirdly,the middle-class subjective identity has a downward trend.Fourthly,the difference between different middle-class groups and their subjective stratum identity is relatively high,and the subjective stratum identity of middle-class income is relatively high.As to the middle class's political attitude,the study has the following foundings.Firstly,compared to other classes,the political attitude of the middle class is characterized by a higher sense of political efficacy(both external and internal efficacy),a higher level of trust in civil society organizations,a lower level of trust in government institutions,a stronger sense of social conflict and a lower sense of social equity.The middle class has begun to have the characteristics of "critical citizens".Of course,the differences in political attitudes are quite obvious within the middle class,and the education middle class is usually more critical.Secondly,there is a certain correlation between social economic status and daily life experience and political attitude,and the influence of daily life experience seems to be greater.Thirdly,although political attitude is a holistic concept,the factors affecting each element vary widely.Fourthly,life experience variables are important predictors of political attitudes.Even though their impact is complex,the variables have a great explanatory effect on all elements of political attitude.With regard to the political participation of the middle class,the study has the foundings as follows.Firstly,in general,in all the activities of political participation,the participation of social members is relatively low,and voting is still the most important way for social members to participate.Secondly,the stratum difference of political participation is reflected in various forms of participation.The differences in the three forms of political participation of the middle class show that the tendency of"weak political participation" or the indifference and alienation towards political participation are only reflected in the limited participation with high degree of institutionalization.This stratum is more inclined to participate in the activities which are more active and can reflect their true mentality,and they will also use various channels to express their views and demands actively.They are also rational,unwilling to take political or other risks to challenge government authority.Thirdly,the significant difference of political participation within the middle class is only reflected in the grass-roots participation.In this regard,participation of the income middle class is obviously higher than that of the professional middle class and education middle class.The forms of political participation of different middle-class groups caused by the differences of professional status,income level and educational capital have obvious differences.Fourthly,different social strata and different forms of political participation have different influencing factors,but there is no doubt about the significant influence of political attitude on political participation behavior.The sense of political efficacy is highly related to political participation.In a word,this study puts the political attitude and political participation behavior of the middle class in the interrelationship between economic development and political democratization.This paper analyzes the political value orientation of the middle class and its developing trend,and probes into the mechanism of the political attitude of the middle class on the political.participation.According to the conclusions of the study,the development and growth of the middle class has become an indisputable social fact,but China has not entered the so-called "middle class society."Whether in the aspect of rapid economic growth and rational distribution of wealth,or in the transformation of social structure or ideology,the growth of the middle class will face a severe challenge.There is still a very long way to go for the formation of modern social stratum structure in Chinese society,with many variables and possibilities on the way.However,in the process of democratization construction,it is an important guarantee of political civilization to cultivate the modern citizen consciousness and active participation attitude of the public,and to expand the institutional participation channel and perfect the expression mechanism of political appeal.