‘I do feel proud that almost everyone I know voted’: The emotional foundations of dutiful citizenship
| dc.contributor.author | Manning, N. | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026 | |
| dc.description | First published online November 10, 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Democratic politics in many parts of the world seems increasingly characterised by intense emotions, bitter divisions and growing polarisation. Amidst this charged political atmosphere it is a common refrain that an emotional politics forfeits rational dialogue and threatens our democracy. In contrast to such claims this article argues that emotions are central to citizenship and political participation. Drawing upon qualitative archival material from the British Mass Observation Project (1983–2017) the article explores the enduring emotional dimensions of dutiful citizenship. Civically engaged respondents experienced electoral politics emotionally and with a striking intensity. In contrast to accounts which associate dutiful citizenship with dry notions of duty, responsibility and obligation, this article begins an exploration of the emotional underpinnings of dutiful citizenship; the deep and abiding feelings citizens can have towards democratic politics and their political engagement. Findings indicate that a wide range of emotions are central to the evaluative and sense-making processes of dutiful citizens and the ways in which they are mobilised for sustained political engagement. The article concludes by suggesting that a focus on the emotional and expressive aspects of dutiful citizenship may help to cultivate committed young democrats for the future. | |
| dc.description.statementofresponsibility | Nathan Manning | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Sociological Review, 2026; 74(1):62-81 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1177/00380261241274889 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 0038-0261 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 0038-0261 | |
| dc.identifier.orcid | Manning, N. [0000-0003-0488-0888] | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/2440/144693 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | SAGE Publications | |
| dc.rights | © The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). | |
| dc.source.uri | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00380261241274889 | |
| dc.subject | citizenship; feeling; politics; reason/emotion; sense-making | |
| dc.title | ‘I do feel proud that almost everyone I know voted’: The emotional foundations of dutiful citizenship | |
| dc.type | Journal article | |
| pubs.publication-status | Published |
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