Disability, perceived discrimination and political participation
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Author | Mikko Mattila,Achillefs Papageorgiou |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512116655813 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512116655813
International Political Science Review
2017, Vol. 38(5) 505 –519
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512116655813
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Disability, perceived discrimination
and political participation
Mikko Mattila
University of Helsinki, Finland
Achillefs Papageorgiou
University of Helsinki, Finland and University of Limerick, Ireland
Abstract
Disability affects the lives of hundreds of millions across the world. People with disabilities often experience
discrimination and unequal treatment. Sometimes the mere categorization of people into groups, that is,
‘healthy’ vs. ‘disabled’, is enough to trigger discriminatory behaviour against people with disabilities. Previous
studies show that in general disabilities depress political participation. However, the effect of disability-
based discrimination on participation has received little scholarly attention. We study how perceptions of
discrimination affect three forms of political participation: voting; contacting politicians; and participating in
demonstrations. Results show that disability decreases voting, especially when associated with perceptions
of discrimination. The analysis points in the opposite direction when the other two forms of political
participation are analysed. People with disabilities are more likely to partake in demonstrations and contact
politicians than non-disabled. Thus, disability-based discrimination is not always a hindrance to participation.
It sometimes further motivates people with disabilities to participate.
Keywords
Disability, discrimination, political participation, social psychology, European Social Survey (ESS)
Introduction
According to the World Health Organization (2011) over one billion individuals worldwide,
that is around 15% of the world’s population, experience in their everyday lives some type of
disability. This figure is likely to rise given the ageing population and the increase in chronic
health conditions in the developed countries, on the one hand, and the persistence of war and
poor health conditions in many developing countries, on the other. Disability is a complicated
concept and therefore a universally acceptable definition is difficult to find (Altman, 2001).
Corresponding author:
Mikko Mattila, Department of Political and Economic Studies, University of Helsinki, PO Box 54, Helsinki, 00014,
Finland.
Email: mikko.mattila@helsinki.fi
655813IPS0010.1177/0192512116655813International Political Science ReviewMattila and Papageorgiou
research-article2016
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