ABSTRACT
Democracy as ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ (Abraham Lincoln) requires both that government action is in accordance with the general interest of the people, and that the people determine government action. Political participation is therefore a conditio sine qua non of a democratic order. In this chapter I analyse five modes of partaking in politics that are arguably the most important political actions by citizens in modern societies: voting, party activities, contacting decisionmakers or the media, political activities as a consumer, and protest activities. Normative democratic theory demands that democratic citizenship be associated with a substantial amount of political participation. Voting based on political knowledge and information should constitute a basic activity performed by nearly all citizens; and more demanding forms of participation should be exercised by a considerable share of the citizens (see the discussion in Chapter 12).
