journal article Open Access Oct 06, 2022

Does political participation help improve the life satisfaction of urban residents: Empirical evidence from China

PLoS ONE Vol. 17 No. 10 pp. e0273525 · Public Library of Science (PLoS)
View at Publisher Save 10.1371/journal.pone.0273525
Abstract
Studies have shown that political participation does not only affect the flow of public resources but also creates positive feedback on participants’ subjective perceptions. However, research on the relationship between political participation and the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents is relatively scarce. Thus, this study investigates whether political participation helps improve the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents. Based on 2577 samples of the 2015 Chinese Social Survey this study used the Ordinary least squares model, instrumental variable model, and propensity score matching model to explore the relationship between political participation and the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents. The empirical results show that political participation can significantly improve the life satisfaction of urban residents. Compared with urban residents without political participation, the life satisfaction of the political participants was 0.145 units higher at a 0.05 level of significance. In addition, this improved effect varied in degree among different groups of urban residents and was more significant for females, members of the Communist Party of China, highly educated, and employed urban residents. In China, there is a significant relationship between political participation and the life satisfaction of urban residents, with the life satisfaction of urban residents improving significantly through political participation. There are differences in the level of this improved effect among different urban residents, and it is more significant for females, highly educated, members of the Communist Party, and employed urban residents. To improve the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents, it is necessary to further broaden their political participation channels.
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Details
Published
Oct 06, 2022
Vol/Issue
17(10)
Pages
e0273525
License
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Funding
National Social Science Foundation of China Award: 20CZZ012
Cite This Article
Li He, Kun Wang, Tianlan Liu, et al. (2022). Does political participation help improve the life satisfaction of urban residents: Empirical evidence from China. PLoS ONE, 17(10), e0273525. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273525
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