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Relational goods provide a theoretical explanation for the puzzling fact that rational individuals engage in collective action, including political participation. Relational goods facilitate provision of public goods, although they are not public goods themselves. A relational good only exists when non-anonymous others share the good, the «identity» characteristic, but these might not be specific individuals in direct contact. «Indirect» relational goods, shared with persons of a certain type, such as a certain social identity, can also increase participation. It remains theoretically problematic how well-defined the «other» must be for a relational good to exist. The indirect relational goods provide key opportunities for elites to mobilize participation. Support for the role of relational goods in collective action comes from substantial empirical work (using survey data and field experiments) examining the roles of publicity, group identification, and mobilization in increasing political participation.Los bienes relacionales ofrecen un marco teórico capaz de explicar el desconcertante hecho de por qué los individuos racionales participan en la acción colectiva, en la que se incluye la participación política. Los bienes relacionales facilitan la provisión de bienes públicos, aunque estos no sean en sí mismos bienes públicos. Un bien relacional sólo existe cuando se comparte un bien con otros sujetos no-anónimos –la característica de «identidad»– pero estos podrían no ser individuos específicos en contacto directo. Bienes relacionales «indirectos», compartidos por personas de un determinado tipo, como puede ser una cierta identidad social, también pueden aumentar la participación. Sigue siendo una problemática teórica el saber cómo definir bien la figura del «otro» para que pueda existir un bien relacional. Los bienes relacionales indirectos proporcionan oportunidades básicas para que las elites puedan lograr movilizar la participación. El apoyo del papel que desempeñan los bienes relacionales en la acción colectiva viene ratificado por un sustancial trabajo empírico (basado en encuestas y en trabajos de campo) que examina los papeles de la publicidad, de la identidad de grupo y de la movilización de una creciente participación política.

Relational goods provide a theoretical explanation for the puzzling fact that rational individuals engage in collective action, including political participation. Relational goods facilitate provision of public goods, although they are not public goods themselves. A relational good only exists when non-anonymous others share the good, the «identity» characteristic, but these might not be specific individuals in direct contact. «Indirect» relational goods, shared with persons of a certain type, such as a certain social identity, can also increase participation. It remains theoretically problematic how well-defined the «other» must be for a relational good to exist. The indirect relational goods provide key opportunities for elites to mobilize participation. Support for the role of relational goods in collective action comes from substantial empirical work (using survey data and field experiments) examining the roles of publicity, group identification, and mobilization in increasing political participation. ; Los bienes relacionales ofrecen un marco teórico capaz de explicar el desconcertante hecho de por qué los individuos racionales participan en la acción colectiva, en la que se incluye la participación política. Los bienes relacionales facilitan la provisión de bienes públicos, aunque estos no sean en sí mismos bienes públicos. Un bien relacional sólo existe cuando se comparte un bien con otros sujetos no-anónimos –la característica de «identidad»– pero estos podrían no ser individuos específicos en contacto directo. Bienes relacionales «indirectos», compartidos por personas de un determinado tipo, como puede ser una cierta identidad social, también pueden aumentar la participación. Sigue siendo una problemática teórica el saber cómo definir bien la figura del «otro» para que pueda existir un bien relacional. Los bienes relacionales indirectos proporcionan oportunidades básicas para que las elites puedan lograr movilizar la participación. El apoyo del papel que desempeñan los bienes relacionales en la acción colectiva viene ratificado por un sustancial trabajo empírico (basado en encuestas y en trabajos de campo) que examina los papeles de la publicidad, de la identidad de grupo y de la movilización de una creciente participación política.

One crucial element of Hanna Pitkin's (1967) definition of political
representation has been relatively neglected in the voluminous literature
her work has inspired. That element is what I will refer to as
potentiality, the subjunctive idea that to be
considered represented, citizens must feel that someone
would defend their interests if those
interests were threatened. Attention to
potentiality provides a reason to value descriptive representation. Second,
it illuminates the representation provided by nonelected leaders and social
groups. Third, it clarifies the reciprocal links between participation and
representation: persons who are participatory have better grounds to believe
that their interests will be protected, and those who have such a belief
participate more. Evidence to support this claimed relationship between
participation and representation is presented for the U.S. case.

Latinos are a large and growing portion of the US population but are less numerous among participants in politics than their numbers would suggest. Predictions of the future rates of participation among Latinos depend heavily upon understanding the causes of current rates. A substantial proportion of the disparity in participation rates between Latinos and non-Latinos can be accounted for by the numbers of noncitizens and by other factors related to a large pool of immigrants, differences in socioeconomic resources, and the young age distribution of Latinos. However, these summary statements obscure differences across types of participation. They also obscure differences across Latinos of different national origins. Much of the analysis done to date of the Latino National Political Survey (LNPS) has made clear that Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, and Cuban-Americans can differ as much from each other as members of each group differ from non-Latinos. This paper uses the LNPS data to examine the factors related to different types of political participation among US Latinos of different national origins. Borrowing from the standard participation literature, we consider the impact of resources, engagement, and recruitment. The Latino population provides an especially useful case for testing hypotheses about the impact of mobilization upon activity. Political leaders have actively appealed to Latino ethnicity both in structuring political competition and in seeking support. I have proposed elsewhere that the success of such appeals in increasing participation will hinge in large part upon whether or not the targeted public believes itself well-represented by the leaders. The LNPS contains several items relevant to perceived representation. This paper will use the LNPS data to test the effect of perceived representation upon political participation, while taking account of the other factors that affect levels of activity.

Rational actor models & various theoretical modifications to explain individual participation in politics are not entirely satisfactory & do not take into account by-products of interaction as motivation for choice. "Relational goods," or those goods that can be enjoyed only through collective sharing in a group, are examined as a distinctive type of good that compels individual participation. A typology of relational goods is outlined & the role of a network of influences in direct-contact relational goods is described. Other relational goods characterized as indirect-contact goods are divided into subgroups of instrumental or consumption goods that take the form of payoffs as a function of the utility of action increasing with magnitude of participation & mobilization of benefits. The relational goods approach is also applied to other areas of collective action, & evidence on its existence & hypothesized effects are examined among English- & French-Canadian, US, Dutch, & Asian cultures. 2 Tables, 4 Figures, 54 References. T. Francis

Analyses of US National Election Study data for 1980 & 1984 are used to investigate patterns & causes of the 1984 reversal of the post-1960s decline in elections participation. Results indicate that: the gap in participation between the wealthier & poorer widened, while that between men & women narrowed & reversed direction; & belonging to a group associated with a strong identity affected participation. Findings suggest that shifts in patterns of turnout correspond to shifts in the lines of politicized interests. However, analysis of the participation of blacks provides little evidence for electoral mobilization by the Rainbow Coalition. 12 Tables, 18 References. Modified HA