The paradox of political alienation as a social and scientific phenomenon is that, if on the social level it has remained a topical subject, perceptible through many citizens’ non-participation in formalized political activities, on the scientific level, on the other hand, it has experienced a long period of hibernation over several decades. Despite the recent revival of academic interest in this construct, methodological and theoretical gaps are perceptible. These relate respectively to the absence of a standardized instrument allowing it to be evaluated and to the fact that the data available until then, and which underlie the theoretical propositions on this construct, have been exclusively collected in democratic contexts, excluding authoritarian contexts, within which citizens’ disaffection for political activities is nevertheless a remarkable fact. This research aims to fill these gaps, through two studies carried out in Cameroon; an authoritarian democracy where institutional authoritarianism generates, among populations, a model of behavior consistent with the manifestations of political alienation. Study 1 (N= 1184) proposes a psychometric measure to assess individuals’ tendencies towards political alienation. The data collected provide satisfactory empirical evidence of its factorial and confirmatory structure, internal consistency, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Study 2 (N= 513) focuses on the link between perceived official terror and political alienation. It provides support for the hypothesis that perceived official terror generates political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy. The theoretical and empirical implications of political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy are discussed.
| Published in | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11 |
| Page(s) | 88-98 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Political Alienation, Political Inefficacy, Political Distrust, Authoritarian Democracy, Perceived Official Terror, Cameroon
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APA Style
Mouafo, A. V. D., Nemboué, W. T., Messanga, G. A. (2023). When Perceived Official Terror Drives People out of Politics: A Systemic Analysis of Political Alienation in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 12(6), 88-98. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11
ACS Style
Mouafo, A. V. D.; Nemboué, W. T.; Messanga, G. A. When Perceived Official Terror Drives People out of Politics: A Systemic Analysis of Political Alienation in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2023, 12(6), 88-98. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11
AMA Style
Mouafo AVD, Nemboué WT, Messanga GA. When Perceived Official Terror Drives People out of Politics: A Systemic Analysis of Political Alienation in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol Behav Sci. 2023;12(6):88-98. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11,
author = {Achille Vicky Dzuetso Mouafo and Willy Taffo Nemboué and Gustave Adolphe Messanga},
title = {When Perceived Official Terror Drives People out of Politics: A Systemic Analysis of Political Alienation in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy},
journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
volume = {12},
number = {6},
pages = {88-98},
doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20231206.11},
abstract = {The paradox of political alienation as a social and scientific phenomenon is that, if on the social level it has remained a topical subject, perceptible through many citizens’ non-participation in formalized political activities, on the scientific level, on the other hand, it has experienced a long period of hibernation over several decades. Despite the recent revival of academic interest in this construct, methodological and theoretical gaps are perceptible. These relate respectively to the absence of a standardized instrument allowing it to be evaluated and to the fact that the data available until then, and which underlie the theoretical propositions on this construct, have been exclusively collected in democratic contexts, excluding authoritarian contexts, within which citizens’ disaffection for political activities is nevertheless a remarkable fact. This research aims to fill these gaps, through two studies carried out in Cameroon; an authoritarian democracy where institutional authoritarianism generates, among populations, a model of behavior consistent with the manifestations of political alienation. Study 1 (N= 1184) proposes a psychometric measure to assess individuals’ tendencies towards political alienation. The data collected provide satisfactory empirical evidence of its factorial and confirmatory structure, internal consistency, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Study 2 (N= 513) focuses on the link between perceived official terror and political alienation. It provides support for the hypothesis that perceived official terror generates political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy. The theoretical and empirical implications of political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy are discussed.
},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - When Perceived Official Terror Drives People out of Politics: A Systemic Analysis of Political Alienation in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy AU - Achille Vicky Dzuetso Mouafo AU - Willy Taffo Nemboué AU - Gustave Adolphe Messanga Y1 - 2023/11/17 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11 DO - 10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11 T2 - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences JF - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences JO - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences SP - 88 EP - 98 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7845 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11 AB - The paradox of political alienation as a social and scientific phenomenon is that, if on the social level it has remained a topical subject, perceptible through many citizens’ non-participation in formalized political activities, on the scientific level, on the other hand, it has experienced a long period of hibernation over several decades. Despite the recent revival of academic interest in this construct, methodological and theoretical gaps are perceptible. These relate respectively to the absence of a standardized instrument allowing it to be evaluated and to the fact that the data available until then, and which underlie the theoretical propositions on this construct, have been exclusively collected in democratic contexts, excluding authoritarian contexts, within which citizens’ disaffection for political activities is nevertheless a remarkable fact. This research aims to fill these gaps, through two studies carried out in Cameroon; an authoritarian democracy where institutional authoritarianism generates, among populations, a model of behavior consistent with the manifestations of political alienation. Study 1 (N= 1184) proposes a psychometric measure to assess individuals’ tendencies towards political alienation. The data collected provide satisfactory empirical evidence of its factorial and confirmatory structure, internal consistency, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Study 2 (N= 513) focuses on the link between perceived official terror and political alienation. It provides support for the hypothesis that perceived official terror generates political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy. The theoretical and empirical implications of political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy are discussed. VL - 12 IS - 6 ER -
Department of Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
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