Democratization and participation: Comparing Spain, Brazil, and Korea

This paper tests a model of cross-national variation in participation, usin g survey data from Spain, Brazil, and Korea We posit a continuum ranging fr om neighborhood ties through membership in voluntary associations to politi cal participation. The gap between Spain and peer countries grows as the co ntinuum shifts from prepolitical to political spheres. Our model highlights three factors-labor market participation, gender, and religiosity-as deter minants of cross-national differences in civic engagement. The impact of em ployment and gender is consistent with previous studies of their role in co nditioning participation. By contrast, the religious factor contradicts con ventional notions regarding its downward effects on participation. The nega tive effect of religiosity in Spain and its positive effect in Korea and Br azil are a function of distinctive histories of church-state relations anti , in particular, of different strategies of church-sponsored mobilization d uring the course of democratization.