Social Networks and Political Group Participation: The Chain Mediation Effect of Social Participation and Intrinsic Political Efficacy

Abstract

Political groups serve as an important forum for grassroots participation in social governance and political dominance, and are a powerful guarantee for political democratisation and social modernisation. Using data from the China CGSS 2017 national survey, this study explores the relationship between social networks and political group participation, and the role of social participation and intrinsic political efficacy in this relationship.The result indicated the following: (1) social networks positively predict political group participation, even after controlling for age, gender, education, and economic status. (2)Social participation and intrinsic political efficacy mediate between social networks and political groups via three pathways: parallel mediation of social participation and intrinsic political efficacy, sequential mediation of social participation, and sequential mediation of intrinsic political efficacy. This study suggests that different incentives can be used to promote political group participation for people with different social network statuses, and that a focus on the composition and operation of social networks can provide insight into the future direction of democratic politics in China.