This thesis explores a deceptively simple question at the heart of debates around political engagement: why are some people interested in politics? I claim that political interest should be conceptualised as an agential process whereby an individual self-assesses themselves as being interested. There have been numerous quantitative studies on political engagement which have established the strength of association between political interest as a dependent variable and a range of independent variables. However, the association between these variables and political interest has been under-theorised. This thesis addresses this gap and establishes the process by which someone comes to recognise their interest in politics. Politics does not mean the same thing to all people and I contend that the self-assessment of political interest depends on the way in which people relate to their meaning of politics.

A key contribution this thesis makes is its development of an analytical framework which can be used to inform the future study of political interest. I use Q-methodology to explore the range of meanings of politics and this innovative approach forms a methodological contribution. By using Q-methodology, my thesis reveals five distinct meanings of politics. This finding was developed through the use of semi-structured interviews which revealed that the self-assessment of political interest is conditional on individuals recognising the salience of politics, as well as perceiving a sense of place within their meaning of politics. Our understanding of political interest has much to gain if we accept the complexity, rather than an imagined parsimony, of what it means to be interested in politics.