POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

Recent years have witnessed increasing concern amongst policy makers about declining levels of civic engagement amongst western publics and the extent to which these trends herald a growing detachment from core social and political institutions. Using a broad range of survey sources this research explores the extent and dynamics of social, community and political participation in Britain. Based upon longitudinal analyses of panel data the study considers evidence of declining levels of civic engagement in contemporary Britain. It also explores the ways in which patterns of participation reflect underlying social and demographic differences, social networks and capital, and spatial effects using a variety of official and academic survey sources.