ABSTRACT
In a rapidly changing world, conventional conceptualizations of political participation do not cover the continuous expansions of the participatory repertoire. The chapter offers an overview of available definitions of political participation and discusses the main reasons why older definitions have become obsolete, offering multiple examples. Based on a concise literature review on the concept of participation that begins with the landmark studies on voting behavior of the 1940s and continues with more recent work on the topic, a number of current examples—especially individualized and internet-based forms of participation—are discussed to show that such newer activities qualify as forms of political participation too. This chapter concludes that, based on these results, there is an urgent need for conceptual improvements.
