Political absenteeism: causes, types, problems, consequences, examples. Absenteeism. Concept and reasons

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The term "absenteeism" comes from a Latin word. In translation, it means "missing". The concept is used in various areas of life. Let's consider it in more detail.

Absenteeism is...

The dean of any department of sociology will be able to explain this term quite well. in plain language. However, not all people in society have the opportunity to attend lectures. There is such a definition as political absenteeism. This concept implies inaction, evasion from participation in public administration. In particular, we are talking about party activities, the organization of demonstrations and rallies, and electoral behavior. Absenteeism of voters is actually non-participation in voting. In many countries, it is believed that electoral behavior is a right of citizens, which they may not use. In some states, voting is the responsibility of the people. In such countries, absenteeism in elections is unacceptable behavior. At the same time, the responsibility of citizens who evade their duties is established. For example, in Italy moral sanctions can be imposed on such citizens. Under Mexican law, political absenteeism is a criminal offense. The legal system of the country provides for fines or imprisonment.

Reasons for absenteeism

Undoubtedly, this phenomenon is negative character both for society and state system. This phenomenon can occur due to various circumstances. The causes of absenteeism may be related to:

1. A trait of character, a chosen life position, which manifests itself in the absence of a habit, need and desire to carry out any managerial actions or take part in them.
2. A worldview aimed, for example, at internal perfection.

Absenteeism is a characteristic of a low level of awareness in power issues, infantilism or awareness of one's own managerial impotence. Citizens who show such inaction admit their inability to influence the adoption of administrative decisions. At the same time, there is an alienation of one's own political needs and values ​​from the existing possibilities for their satisfaction. In addition, a high degree of distrust of the electorate to government institutions and candidates.

Specificity

Absenteeism is certain model population behavior. It reflects the desire ordinary people withdraw from public affairs. This desire is due to the fact that many citizens see an ambitious and conceited competition in power structures. Within the framework of the institution, in the opinion of such people, egoistic and group interests, which are in no way connected with the needs of the population, come into play. AT modern world the influence of religion is much weaker than it was in former times. In this regard, everything sacred or tragic, as a rule, is associated with politics. If it does not live up to expectations, citizens are disappointed in it. As a result, absenteeism begins to appear. This phenomenon is the brighter, the worse the results of certain actions of the authorities. Some researchers associate the phenomenon with the mentality of indifference. It is characteristic of many peoples of the former USSR. In addition, there is a "psychology of conformism." Her dominance in civil society brought incompetent figures into the managerial state sphere. This, in turn, affected the decline in the authority of representative bodies and government in general.

Professional area

In this area, there is also such a phenomenon as absenteeism. This behavior is typical for workers who are systematically absent from their jobs and avoid performing their duties. This phenomenon is the main problem of management. Traditionally, this phenomenon is considered as an indicator of insufficient individual performance. Recent studies in this area have focused on the consideration and evaluation of absenteeism as an indicator of social, psychological and medical adaptation to work.

The care model

The consequences of absenteeism are expressed in the staff turnover at the enterprise. According to the psychological model of "leaving", the individual begins to shy away from attending work, thus reacting to unsatisfactory working conditions. At the same time, innocent delays begin at first, then absenteeism appears, which ultimately ends in dismissal. Row results psychological research indicate also the predisposition of workers to absenteeism. As an indicator, as a rule, the total number of days or hours missed, or the frequency of absence of employees on site, is used. At the same time, omissions for both disrespectful and valid reasons are taken into account. The danger of absenteeism lies in the fact that by his disinterest and inaction, the individual causes damage primarily to himself. As a result of his such behavior, his financial condition. At the same time, significant economic damage is caused to the enterprise itself. Along with personnel turnover, absenteeism is seen as a reaction of employees to working conditions. This, in turn, reflects the effectiveness of work with personnel aimed at creating successful individual-organizational compliance.

Modern usage of the term

Absenteeism is the opposite of presenteeism. In the field of labor relations, the concept is used to characterize the frequent absence of employees from their jobs, often without good reason. For example, a day of non-attendance at work due to poor health, but without going to the doctor. The frequent absence of employees can act as an indicator of weak morale or sick building syndrome. The absenteeism rate is the ratio of the number of missed days to total number days of work per month, year.

Problem Research

Organizational psychologists have been studying absenteeism for a long time. Long years the generally accepted view was that this phenomenon acts as a reaction to job dissatisfaction. This assumption is based on the results of numerous studies. The study revealed a moderate negative relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism rates. The lower the first, the higher the second. Some researchers suggest that perhaps cause and effect should be reversed. An alternative theory is that some individuals express job dissatisfaction in order to find an excuse for their propensity to be absent.

Other factors

Over the past few years, the relationship of absenteeism with other variables has been investigated. In particular, among the characteristics that are studied in connection with this phenomenon are: race, gender, education, marital status, age, income. According to a number of researchers, one should also pay attention to the length of service in a particular position, its location in the hierarchical structure of the enterprise. As a result of the analyzes carried out, a relationship was established between absenteeism and each variable.

Floor

Absenteeism has the most stable connection with him. Studies have shown that women are more susceptible to this phenomenon than men. This is explained by various hypotheses. In most cases elevated level Absenteeism among women is explained by the fact that, in addition to work, they also have family responsibilities. In addition, the fact that, as a rule, women are in positions of a lower level is also important.

Age

Findings that absenteeism in women has more complex causes than in men are further supported by other studies. In particular, when studying the relationship with age. The older a man becomes, the less absenteeism is manifested. In a study of women, no such association was found. The fact that the degree of manifestation of absenteeism does not decrease with age is usually explained by the presence of household duties. But a number of researchers consider this point of view doubtful.

W. Milbright divides political participation into conventionphysical(legal and regulated by law) and unconventional(illegal, rejected by the majority of society for moral, religious or other reasons). Activities related to conventional and non-conventional forms differ in the degree of activity. The combination of these two characteristics of political participation made it possible to distinguish 6 groups of political participation (see table).

Typology of political participation (according to W. Milbright)

Protest behavior is a special type of political participation.

political protest is a manifestation of a negative attitude towards the political system as a whole, its individual elements, norms, values, decisions made in an openly demonstrated form.

Protest forms of behavior include rallies, demonstrations, processions, strikes, picketing, mass and group violent actions. The most common theoretical model explaining the causes of protest behavior is the concept of deprivation. Deprivation is a state of discontent caused by a discrepancy between the real and expected state to which the subject aspires. In the case when the comparison of social reality with socially significant values ​​gives rise to a feeling of deep dissatisfaction, there is a feeling that with some social and political changes, the desired goals can be achieved in a relatively short term. In the event that the described discrepancy becomes significant, and discontent becomes widespread, there is a motivation to participate in protest actions. Deprivation factors can be economic recession, a sharp increase prices and taxes, loss of habitual social status, high expectations, negative comparison results own success with the successes of others, or with some "normative" state.

For protest to take place, a certain level of social discontent is needed, the recognition of force and mass action as an acceptable means of social change. The growth of deprivation and the intensification of protest actions are facilitated by radical ideologies, slogans, distrust of political regime, the decline of faith in traditional ways of expressing requirements.

Quite often, political protest manifests itself in the form of rallies, demonstrations, processions, strikes. With a low degree of institutionalization and organization, such actions can lead to riots, violence, and direct clashes with the authorities. That is why the holding of mass political events is regulated by special laws that provide for a number of necessary measures preceding the holding of such actions (notifying the authorities about the event being held or obtaining by the organizers of the preliminary permission of the authorities to hold rallies, demonstrations, marches). And yet the danger of the escalation of conventional forms of protest into non-conventional ones always remains.

The extreme form of non-conventional type of political behavior and participation is terrorism. Terrorism is understood as the opposition activity of extremist organizations or individuals, the purpose of which is the systematic or single use of violence (or its threat) to intimidate the government and the population. characteristic feature What distinguishes terrorism from criminal offenses is the target setting - to influence the course of political events and decision-making, to cause a wide public outcry.

Exist different kinds political terrorism:

1) according to ideological orientations, right (neo-fascist) and left (revolutionary, anarchist) terrorism are distinguished;

2) in terms of historical orientation, terrorism can be divided into “anarcho-ideological”, seeking to change the traditional political system, interrupting historical continuity, and “national-separatist”, seeking, on the contrary, to restore the former greatness of the nation, its unity, independence, to recapture the lost territories, to avenge the wrongs done;

3) in separate view religious terrorism stands out as a war against "infidels". Among organizations of this type, the most militant are some groups of the Islamic fundamentalist persuasion.

The methods of terrorist activity include assassinations of politicians, kidnappings, threats, blackmail, explosions in public places, seizure of buildings and organizations, hostage taking, etc. Members of terrorist organizations are characterized by the desire to justify their actions with higher goals, the impossibility of otherwise influencing the situation. However, the motives for involvement in terrorist organizations are most often completely different.

It would be wrong to explain political terrorism solely by the psychopathological traits of its agents. Surveys of detained terrorists show that there are few persons with psychopathological deviations among them. Terrorists are characterized by such personality traits as overstated claims, lack of adaptation to reality, failures in mastering social roles, blaming others for their own failures, emotional underdevelopment, an increased degree of aggressiveness, fanaticism. Participation in terrorist organizations is a kind of way to compensate for low self-esteem (due to a sense of dominance over others), a way to overcome feelings of loneliness, to form a sense of belonging, unity.

The basis of terrorist organizations are persons from 20 to 30 years old. high specific gravity students (among which, in turn, students humanitarian specialties). Individuals over the age of 30 either lead these organizations or are "experts" or "sponsors".

Whatever goals may be used to justify political terrorism, it has been and remains one of the gravest crimes. Therefore, the problems of combating terrorism are recognized by the international community as one of the highest priorities.

Speaking about political participation, it is necessary to dwell on one more phenomenon.

Absenteeism is an avoidance of participation in political life(in voting, protest actions, party activities), loss of interest in politics, i.e. political apathy.

Usually, the increase in the proportion of absentees in society is interpreted as a manifestation of a serious crisis in the legitimacy of the political system, a deep crisis in its norms and values. Absenteeism is sometimes seen as a manifestation of political protest. At the same time, this type of behavior can, on the contrary, be an indicator of people's respect and trust in their representatives in power. Many political scientists believe that a sign of a normally functioning system of political relations is not the general politicization of the population, but the normal activity of citizens and politicians in their areas, and an individual who successfully does his job and fully provides for his life, as a rule, does not interfere in politics. Similar type people limit their political activity to participation in elections, referendums. More active participation and inclusion in political activity occurs if their existence and activities are subject to restrictions and pressure from the existing government (imperfection of legislation, excessive tax rates, racial discrimination, etc.).

In political science, there are several reasons for the absenteeism of a certain part of the population:

1) a high degree of satisfaction of personal interests; from the point of view of some political scientists, the ability of an individual to cope with their problems on their own, to defend their interests in private can give rise to a feeling of the uselessness of politics and, conversely, a threat to their own interests from more powerful groups gives rise to the need to turn to politics as a means of defending and protecting their interests;

2) political apathy can be influenced by distrust of political institutions, a feeling of the impossibility of somehow influencing the process of developing and making decisions (“nothing depends on me”, “everything has already been decided”);

3) absenteeism may be due to a lack of ideas about the relationship between politics and private life.

Absenteeism is more observed among young people, representatives of certain subcultures, people with a low level of education.

In modern Russia, the proportion of politically apathetic people in the population is quite large. This is due to the crisis of mass consciousness, the conflict of values, the alienation of the majority of the population from power and distrust of it, political and legal nihilism. Many have lost faith in their own abilities, they do not believe that they can influence political processes, they believe that political decisions are made regardless of their participation in voting and other political actions. People do not feel personal gain from participating in politics, believing that it serves the interests of the elite. On the absenteeism of a certain part Russian population the collapse of the myth about the early entry into the circle of highly developed countries had a significant impact.

The assessment of the role of absenteeism in political science is ambiguous. Some researchers insist on the need to involve as many people as possible in various forms political participation. Others believe that limited participation and non-participation can be considered as a stabilizing factor, since the activation of apolitical sections of the population, their inclusion in the political process can lead to destabilization of the political system.

Absenteeism is the evasion of participation in political life, the inaction of the people, the evasion of their electoral functions.

Symptoms of such a situation in society are low turnout in elections, low party activity.

I think this is very typical for modern Russia. I constantly hear from people such opinions about politics: “I’m not interested in this”, “politics is a dirty business”, “you can’t change anything anyway”, “there are all thieves, what difference does it make who is in power, everyone is good.”

This, together with the low turnout in elections, together with the low level of participation of our society in political parties and political actions suggests that in our country there is a classic case of absenteeism.

The reason for absenteeism in our country can be considered: people's disillusionment with government and politics, constant propaganda in various media and restrictions on freedom of speech, a general decline in the level of culture and education of society, conformity of people, a small number of independent media, outflow (emigration) politically active population abroad.

All this leads to the fact that the authorities take advantage of the passivity of society and govern the country without taking into account the opinion of the people, often falsifying various choices or manipulates consciousness through controlled media.

A similar situation is observed in some former republics. Soviet Union. First of all, these are: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus.

The history of mankind shows that the government has always sought to reduce, limit the rights of society to participate in political life. It seems to me that based on the very definition of absenteeism as a voluntary evasion from participation in political life, one can speak only in the last 100 years of world history. Prior to this, totalitarian, absolutist, authoritarian regimes in every possible way limited the ability of society, for example, to participate in power elections. And society all these centuries fought for such rights. And only in last years people had the very opportunity to elect power (when democracies appeared) and, accordingly, to evade own will from this right.

Historians say that in Ancient Rome absenteeism was observed in the 3rd century. But one can hardly say that all Romans had the right to participate in elections, to vote. But many even democratic countries had a property qualification. Not every citizen can participate in elections, vote.

Therefore, if we talk about examples of absenteeism in world literature, we should first of all consider modern literature.
Of the modern writers on the topic of politics in modern Russia, Zakhar Prilepin writes a lot. For example, his book "Sankya" can partly serve as such an example. Of course there the protagonist takes a very active part in politics, but at the same time, the society is shown to be rather apolitical, indifferent to the elections and the political life of the country.
An example from classical literature is the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin "The History of a City". It not only shows an absolutely pliable, passive and easily controlled society without any political ambitions, but also shows the origins of this society. A very interesting work for any person who would like to understand the origins of modern Russian absenteeism.
An example from foreign literature is Orwell's work Animal Farm. After a revolution happens on the farm, the pigs seize power and gradually convince the rest of the farm animals to give up their political rights. The Animal Farm Society shows absolute passivity in relation to politics. The same behavior is demonstrated by the inhabitants of the country Oceania in Orwell's other book "1984".

Absenteeism is an extremely dangerous situation for any society. A passive, indifferent society, evading participation in the political life of the country, is a direct road to totalitarianism and autocracy.

- English absenteeism, political; German Absentismus, politiccher. Evasion of voters from participating in voting in the elections of representatives of power, the head of state, etc.

• - 1) voter evasion from voting 2) receipt by the land owner of income without participation in ...

  Universal optional practical dictionary I. Mostitsky

• - English. absenteeism; German Absentism. Absence of individuals in a certain place in certain time and the related failure to comply with the relevant social. functions...

  Encyclopedia of Sociology

• - evasion of voters from participating in voting in the elections of representatives of power, the head of state, etc. In English: Political absenteeismSee. See also: Absenteeism Voting  ...

  Financial vocabulary

• - 1. avoidance of duties 2. avoidance of work without good reason, often this is a one-day absence from work due to illness, but without visiting a doctor ...

  Big Economic Dictionary

• - 1) absence of owner: a form of land tenure in which the land is separated from the owner who receives cash income in the form of rent, but not participating in the processing and industrial use earth...

  encyclopedic Dictionary economics and law

• - non-participation of voters in voting during the elections of deputies and officials, as well as in voting at referendums ...

  Law Encyclopedia

• - non-participation of voters in voting during the elections of deputies and officials, as well as in voting at referendums, i.e. failure to appear at the polling station ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Constitutional Law

• - one of the forms of deliberate boycott of elections by voters, refusal to participate in them ...

  Political science. Vocabulary.

• - in the science of constitutional law, a term meaning the voluntary non-participation of voters in voting in elections or a referendum ...

  Vocabulary legal terms

• - 1) absence of the owner, form of land use; Under which the land is separated from the owner, who receives money income in the form of rent, but does not participate in the cultivation and production use of the land ...

  Economic dictionary

• - a word that owes its origin to the well-known plight of Ireland and denotes the constant absence of the large landowners there from their estates ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - I Absenteeism is the evasion of voters from participating in voting in the election of representative bodies or officials. A. is a phenomenon widespread in bourgeois states ...

  Great Soviet Encyclopedia

• - evasion of voters from participating in voting during presidential, parliamentary elections, etc. Usually it is about 15% of the electoral corps ...

  Modern Encyclopedia

• - agricultural, a form of land tenure in which the owner of the land, without participating in the production process, receives cash income in the form of rent or profit ...

  Modern Encyclopedia

• - evasion of the obligation to participate, to be present for the discussion of public issues ...

  Explanatory-phraseological dictionary of Michelson

• - avoidance of the obligation to participate, to be present - to discuss public issues. Absence at all...

  Michelson Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original orph.)

"POLITICAL ABSENTHEISM" in books

Political theater