The Party Official Next Door: Some Consequences of Friendship for Political Involvement

Abstract

Consistent with renewed interest in using social phenomena to explain political orientations, we analyze the impact of a personal relationship with a party official on the political involvement of a group of citizens ("nigh-dwellers") in Winnipeg and Vancouver who reside near the party officials and are like them with respect to sex, age, and occupational status. The data indicate that the closer the relationship the greater the likelihood that (1) the two will have discussed politics, and that (2) the nigh-dweller will identify with the official's party, will be a frequent voter, will be approached to participate in campaign activities, and actually will participate. In contrast, there is no evidence of similarity in specific political orientations or even that the party official may have influenced the party identification of as many as half of the close friends. Analysis suggests that close relationships grow out of coincidental circumstances from which any relationship may arise, suggesting that political homogeneity may develop from influence in the pair. If such influence operates, the absence of similar political orientations and attitudes in pairs is consistent with claims that Western democratic politics are becoming depoliticized and that the emphasis of parties is on winning electoral contests rather than on promoting and implementing a consistent ideology.