ABSTRACT
A major criterion for assessing the stage of political development in any nation is the degree to which political participation by various segments in the society occurs, especially by those who do not belong to the dominant political elite. Political participation can be viewed as a psychological process that induces the involvement of the masses in the political system. In a civil society, such involvement is broad. This does not mean that in a civic culture, or in countries with established democracies the citizen is at all times constantly involved in politics and in checking elite behaviour, but rather as Almond and Verba argue, the citizen has
the potential to act if there is need . . ., he is rarely active in political groups. But he thinks that he can mobilise his ordinary social environment if necessary for political use. He is not the active citizen. He is the potential active citizen.1
