Rights and responsibilities: citizenship norms and protest activity in a cross‐country analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of citizenship norms on protest activity across established and new democracies. It disentangles citizenship norms based on motivations to act, informed by citizenship theories. Along the spectrum of liberal and republican citizenship theories, rights-based, cosmopolitan, active and dutiful citizenship norms are examined. The study utilizes the International Social Survey Program’s (ISSP) Citizenship modules, conducted in 2004 and 2014. It is a repeated cross-sectional survey across 22 countries, using a multi-level regression analysis. Rights based, cosmopolitan and active citizenship norms exert positive, dutiful citizenship norms exert negative effect on protest activity in both settings. The effect of norms changes over time and across democratic context. While the effects of rights-based norms and cosmopolitan norms are stronger across established democracies, norms that relate to republican theories of citizenship are the main drivers of protest across new democracies