The Relationship Between Social Capital Components and Political Participation: A Meta-Analysis of Studies From 2008 to 2020

Political participation is an instance of collective perspective and policymaking that cannot be fulfilled without social capital. Thus, this study set out to examine the effect of social capital on political participant through meta-analysis method. The statistical population was comprised of 28 survey-type research documents published from 2008 to 2020. The criteria for the inclusion of research documents into the meta-analysis software were having a correlation coefficient, confidence interval, and sample size along with the foregoing publication year range. The findings showed that the overall effect of social capital on political participation is 46 percent. There were found significant relationships between some social capital components and political participation, including social solidarity (.461), social participation (.391), religious bonds (.310), social awareness (.301), social bonds (.208), social trust (.123), and expert reference group (.102). In sum, the study showed that social capital can provide robust support and can be a guarantee for the fulfillment of political participation. Social capital in societies is enhanced through the social connection and solidarity of ethnicities with ethnicities, ethnicities with government, and citizens with political rulers.