Non-electoral Participation

Abstract

Does the rise of non-electoral forms of participation affect the functioning of liberal democracies and institutionalized representation? Because every form of participation is biased against less privileged parts of the population the main aspects of unequal political participation are considered. Are participants the better democrats? The findings suggest that the rising levels and expanding repertoires of non-electoral participation do not provide a cure for biased representation. Yet the politically active parts of the population consistently show much higher levels of support for core principles of representative democracy than found among citizens who only cast a vote or do not participate at all.