It’s not what you know it’s who you know: Political connectedness and political engagement at the local level

Abstract

Drawing on a survey of households across a small rural community in north central Victoria, Australia, this article uses social network analysis to examine the embedded political resources citizens draw on and mobilize in order to effect change at the local level. The article uses a name generator to map the structure, size and composition of citizens’ political support networks and to identify key actors or ‘nodes’ they rely upon to get action on local issues. More traditional quantitative measures are then used to examine how being more or less ‘politically connected’ impacts upon levels of political engagement. The findings confirm that ‘who you know’ is important, with both the level of political connectedness and breadth of contact types important predictors of increased participation in political activities.