Academic Writing

Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of Political Participation
Russell J. Dalton
A growing chorus of scholars laments the decline of political participation in America, and
the negative implications of this trend for American democracy. This article questions this
position – arguing that previous studies misdiagnosed the sources of political change and
the consequences of changing norms of citizenship for Americans’ political engagement.
Citizenship norms are shifting from a pattern of duty-based citizenship to engaged
citizenship. Using data from the 2005 ‘Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy’ survey of the
Center for Democracy and Civil Society (CDACS) I describe these two faces of citizenship,
and trace their impact on political participation. Rather than the erosion of participation,
this norm shift is altering and expanding the patterns of political participation in America.
(Dalton, R. J. (2008)
Political Studies
56 (1): 76–98)

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Abstracts normally have a standard structure:

(a) Background
(b) Aim and thesis of paper
(c) Method of research
(d) Results of research
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Underline and label these components (a–d) in the abstract above.
4 Fact and opinion
When reading, it is important to distinguish between facts:
Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia
and opinions:
Kuala Lumpur is a welcoming, bustling city
In addition, the reader needs to decide if the facts given are true:
Singapore lies near the equator (true)
Singapore was an ancient trading port (false)
You need to be careful of texts that contain unsupported opinion or ‘facts’ that you think are
wrong.
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Read the following and underline facts ( _____ ) and opinions ( ......... ). Decide if the
facts are true.
(a) Sydney is the capital of Australia.
(b) Australia is a dynamic, prosperous and enterprising country.
(c) The majority of Australians live on sheep farms.
(d) Most Australians are open-minded and friendly.
(e) Australia is the largest island in the world, and has extensive mineral deposits.
(f) Among the 22 million Australians are some of the world’s best cricket players.