Socio-Economic Modernization as a Predictor of Political Participation in Barangay 27 Cagayan de Oro City

The study was conducted to determine whether socioeconomic modernization affects political participation at Barangay 27, Cagayan de Oro City from C.Y. 2000 to 2010. This is necessary to create a projection of political participation of the residents in Barangay 27 in the future. Economic development can bring many changes in a society. Among them and the most important one is that it usually creates a condition that affects the level of political participation. Among many theories that offer to explain the empirical connection between economic development and political participation is the Modernization Theory by Seymour Martin Lipset which provides the common idea that the process of economic development leads to clusters of social changes that will drastically alter the class, organizational, cultural, and social structure of a nation and how these are associated with new forms of political participation. Using simple statistics, the study discovered that the socio-economic profile of Barangay 27 from C.Y. 2000-2010 had increased gradually. This due to the increased number of business establishments in the area and the increased migration of people from other places to the said area, thus improving political participation. The study found out that there exists a relationship between socio-economic modernization and political participation through this socio-economic development in Barangay 27 political participation in terms of voters’ turn out is therefore anticipated to increase until 2019 elections.