25/02/2009

Medborgare och
medborgarsamhllet
CONTENT of the section:

I. Democratic and non-democratic regimes

II. Regime change: transition and
consolidation processes
III. Politics & society: political culture
IV. Political participation
V. Political parties and party system

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Political participation
(1) Definition & measurement
(2) Examples & development over time
(3) Who participates & why is political
participation important?

What to read?
- Hague & Harrop (chap. 9)
- Dalton (chap. 3-4, 10)

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What is political participation?

Verba, Nie and Kim (1978):

Legal activities by private citizens more or
less directly aimed at influencing the
selection of government personnel
and/or the actions they take.
Brady (1999): Action by ordinary citizens
directed toward influencing some political
outcomes.

WHO ACTION TARGET

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Forms of political action

multidimensional, different targets

ELECTORAL NON-ELECTORAL
LEGAL ILLEGAL
CONVENTIONAL NON-conventional

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Unconventional participation
Protest = the act of challenging, resisting,
or making demands upon authorities,
power holders, and/or cultural beliefs and
practices by some individual or group

Social movement = a collective,

Goodwin & organized, sustained and non-institutional
Jasper
(2003) The challenge to authorities, power holders, or
Social cultural beliefs and practices.
Movements
Reader
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Participation & type of democracy

(1) Elite democracy participation in

elections for selecting representatives
is enough.
(2) Direct democracy direct participation
in decision-making, e.g., referenda or in
workplace (Carol Pateman)
(3) Deliberative democracy-
discussion consensus (Habermas)

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Electoral participation:
one person, one vote

Electoral
turnout in
old and
new
democracies

Source: IDEA website

(www.idea.int)
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Electoral turnout in Sweden

95
Source: 90
www.val.se 85
80
75
70

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Participation in non-electoral
forms of political actions

Source: World Value Survey 1995

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Other forms of participation:

Izar shipyard workers dismantle train tracks
as a protest against the split up of state-
owned shipbuilder Izar in southern Spain.

Source:
September
27, 2004.
REUTERS/
Anton
Meres

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Irish police hold back

protesters gathered
outside Phoenix Park
in Dublin (1/5/ 2004)
during ceremonies
attended by European
leaders, marking the
expansion of the EU to
25 countries.

Source: AP Photo/John
Giles, PA
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Different EU-targeting protests

60
40
No of events

20
0
92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07
19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

Year

CAP protests environment

25/02/2009
fishing
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Propensity to participate among

youngsters (17-18 years)
% have Join non-
Source:
Torney-Purta done Vote Volunteer violent
& Amadeo protest
2003
A Cross-
National Sweden 54 4 10
Analysis of
Political and
Civic Norway 57 5 8
Involvement
Among
Adolescents
Poland 63 21 9
PS: Political
Science &
Politics 36
Chile 40 32 20
pp.269-274
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New mediums using internet

for political information

Source:
Tolbert &
Mcneal 2003,
Unraveling
the Effects of
the Internet
on Political
Participation?
, Political
Research
Quarterly
Vol. 56
pp.175-185

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Patterns of individuals political

participation in democracies

Milbrath & Goel [1977] (in HH 2007:166) :

Gladiators (interested & very active)

Spectator (interested, but only vote)

Apathetic (not interested & passive)

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Any political participation in

illiberal and non-democracies?
Yes, but
- Limited in scope, only vote (illiberal)
- Limited and often manipulated, patron-
client relations (authoritarian)
- Active, but fully controlled by the state
[HH: Regimented participation]

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Who some do and others dont?

INDIVIDUAL level (SES factors):

Resources
Incentives / motivation
MOBILISING AGENCIES (networks)
Trade unions, social movements
INSTITUTIONS & ECONOMY (structure)
Electoral & political system, regime

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Who participate in developed

democracies?
VOTING (the most equal (one vote),
country differences exist) educated,
older & middle-aged, attached to political
party, with a sense of political efficacy

PROTESTING (who shouts louder?, also

country differences) educated, young,
men, live in city rather than in village,
often left-wing

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Revolutions and social

movements how and why?

- Socio-psychological argument or
relative deprivation theory (Ted Gurr)
- Structural argument or bring the state
back in (Theda Skocpol)
- Resource mobilisation
- Political opportunities
- Self-expression and identity

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To be a good citizens, it is
important to ...
% VOTE PARTICIPATE
IN POLITCS
Sweden 89 23
France 86 12
Portugal 73 45
Czech Republic 60 14
Source: European Social Survey (2001), see
www.europeansocialsurvey.org

Why to vote?
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Why low turnout is a problem?

Representation of interests (preferences)
Well-educated, higher income, middle-age
majority men use(d) to vote more than
other groups

Do their voice represents the opinion of

non-participants?

If not, then we a bias in participation

biased representation i.e. unequal
representation of citizens interests
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Any problems with too much

participation?

VOTING:
- high turnout vs. free and fair elections
- information & knowledge
PROTESTING:
- instability, specific group interests
- non-democratic message

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Conclusion
Political participation refers to a wide range
of actions that are aimed to affect
political outcomes

The degree of citizens activism varies &

all who have a right to participate do not
use it

The more the better is not always the case

for political participation
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