Well-functioning democracies depend on citizens’ ability to make accurate political judgments and express them in the public sphere. Thus, in this research, we aim to better understand the role of political knowledge and political trust in shaping young Poles’ willingness to engage in unconventional participation such as signing a petition, boycotting specific products, taking part in a peaceful demonstration, or engaging in social media activities. We distinguish between two types of political knowledge: knowledge about the rules of the game and current political knowledge, which provide a more insightful look into the complex nature of relationships between political knowledge, political trust, and unconventional participation. In two studies (Study 1, N = 570 and Study 2; N = 1048) we found that unconventional participation was positively predicted by political trust, and political knowledge about the rules of the game. We also found a significant interaction effect between political trust and current political knowledge, suggesting that those high in current political knowledge may be more willing to participate only when being distrustful towards the current political system. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

运作良好的民主国家取决于公民做出准确的政治判断并在公共领域表达的能力。因此，在本研究中，我们旨在更好地了解政治知识和政治信任在塑造波兰青年参与非常规参与的意愿中的作用，例如签署请愿书、抵制特定产品、参加和平示威或参与社交媒体活动。我们区分了两种类型的政治知识：关于游戏规则的知识和当前的政治知识，它们可以更深入地了解政治知识、政治信任和非常规参与之间关系的复杂性质。在两项研究中（研究 1，N  = 570 和研究 2；N = 1048）我们发现政治信任和对游戏规则的政治知识积极预测了非常规参与。我们还发现政治信任与当前政治知识之间存在显着的交互作用，表明当前政治知识高的人可能只有在对当前政治制度不信任时才更愿意参与。讨论了这些发现的意义和局限性。