Young adults’ conceptions of ‘good’ citizenship behaviours: a latent class analysis

Abstract

Democracies need an active civic society, and early adulthood is a significant period in life for becoming an engaged citizen. The research reported on here categorized young Australians according to their conceptions of good citizenship using latent class analysis. Half of the sample were characterized as either ‘engaged’ or ‘duty-based,’ suggesting that there is more to consider when talking about citizenship norms and value changes, as the other half comprised ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘subject’ citizens. Prior participation was almost unrelated to those citizenship norms. The findings provide implications for an active citizenry, and the discussion addresses limitations and directions for future research.