Research examines links between commuting and political participation

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: Research examines links between commuting and political participation

For many folks in the D.C. region, commuting is a chore. It can be stressful, expensive and time consuming.

A recent report on NPR says it also may impact how likely folks are to be politically engaged.

Shankar Vedantam reported on new research out of Stonybrook University and the University of Connecticut, which  found that time spent traveling to and from work may explain why people are less engaged in politics. It wasn't necessarily a matter of time, researchers found, but rather that some folks may just feel too exhausted to participate. The impact is particularly pronounced among those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

[Brandon]

I'm not so sure it's just low-income individuals.  There are plenty of higher-income and middle-income people who have long commute times.  If it is just the lower-income folks, then that's a matter of correlation is not necessarily causation.

[NE2]

Best comment I've read: http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1256840/51930325

An alternate hypothesis

If you have a long commute, then you spend most of your waking hours in another city or county from where you sleep. Fewer opportunities to meet neighbors, use local facilities, volunteer for stuff, notice civic challenges, etc. That would reasonably reduce one's interest in a lot of things, including politics.

That seems like a far simpler explanation for the data than inventing a new psychic fatigue phenomenon.