The Influence of Political Awareness and Political Socialization on Civic Engagement
A Comparative Study of Agrotechnology and Law Students at Universitas Darussalam Gontor
Keywords:
Democratic citizenship, Political awareness, Political participationAbstract
Purpose— Democratic citizenship is a fundamental objective of higher education, as universities are expected to develop students into active, responsible, and participatory citizens. However, limited empirical evidence exists regarding the extent to which awareness and socialization contribute to political participation, particularly within Indonesian Islamic higher education institutions. This study aimed to examine the relationships among political participation and to assess how these factors contribute to building democratic citizenship among undergraduate students at Universitas Darussalam Gontor, Indonesia.
Design/methods— This study employed a quantitative research design using a structured questionnaire administered to 100 undergraduate students from the Agrotechnology and Law programs at Universitas Darussalam Gontor. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis to examine the relationships among political awareness, political socialization, and civic engagement, while comparative analysis was conducted to identify differences between the two academic disciplines.
Findings—The findings revealed a statistically significant difference in political participation between students from the Agrotechnology and Law programs. Agrotechnology students demonstrated higher political participation than Law students. The findings suggest that strengthening political awareness and political socialization through higher education can enhance political participation and foster democratic citizenship. The study recommends integrating civic education and political literacy across academic disciplines to encourage greater political participation among university students.
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