Religiosity and Political Participation of University Students in Turkey

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the religiosity and political participation of the university students in Turkey. For this aim, a survey conducted on 872 students in order to understand the impact of religiosity on political participation. In this research, political participation is measured as conventional and un-conventional participation forms. The scale is prepared as 13 questions; 7 of them for measuring conventional and 6 of them for measuring un-conventional participation. It is determined in the literature that religiosity is related to conventional political participation and also has a negative effect on un-conventional participation. In fact, the studies included in the literature show that participation of the religious individuals is low generally and if they choose to perform any political participation, it is realized in the form of conventional participation. On the other hand university students are associated more than any groups with un-conventional participation. According to the result of the research it has been found that religiosity has a negative correlation with both conventional and un-conventional form of political participation.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p403