Relative Standing and Political Participation

The significance of absolute income has consistently been highlighted in the literature as an important factor shaping individuals’ propensity to engage in political participation. However, considerably less research has been done on the relationship between relative income and individuals’ propensity to engage in both conventional and unconventional forms of political participation. Using relative income to quantify relative standing, this paper explores the relationship between relative standing and political participation in South Africa. Results show that individuals’ relative standing had a divergent relationship with their propensity to engage in voting and protest. More specifically, the results showed that South Africans with a higher relative standing, i.e., those who experienced relative privilege were more likely to engage in voting, while those with a lower relative standing, i.e., those who experienced relative deprivation, were more likely to engage in protest participation.