Political Participation Essay

2. Literature review

2.1. Political Participation

In a research tradition going back decades, politicians and scholars have always emphasized that political participation is as a cornerstone of democracy. Ordinary citizens may participate in political affairs in a myriad of ways, such as voting, contacting public officials, joining political parties, demonstrating, boycotting, signing petitions, posting blogs, volunteering etc. Although these elements are important for every political system, the extend of political participation is a decisive criterion for evaluating the level of democracy.

The main characteristics of political participation remain undisputed, despite the significant changes to its definition caused by the blurring of lines

Studies from the 1940s and 1950s concentrated on party membership, campaigning and voting as the most common forms of participation. By the 1960s, direct contact between officials, politicians and citizen was included to reflect the growing importance of community politics. These types of action emerged as conventional or institutionalized modes of participation.

Because of the vast social and political changes in the late 1960s and 1970s, citizens’ involvement in political affairs increased. This made it clear that political participation is not limited to institutionalized modes only. The interests and opinions of citizens, including disapproval, dissent and rejection, were now included in the range of political participation. As social movements and protest actions initiated by women’s, pacifist’s and ecologist’s groups were not conform with the social norm in this time period, they were referred to as unconventional modes of

Technology offers new ways for participation or alters some aspects of already existing ones. The internet has lowered the cost of participation and extended the possibilities of political activities. It has also increased the opportunities for promoting participation in political affairs, primarily direct actions, protests and new social movements. Furthermore, internet-based technology has expanded the territorial scope, thus making the coordination of political action easier even on a transnational scale