ABSTRACT
In order to provide an adequate survey of the different facets of political participation it was necessary for intensive research to take place within a range of organisations. This required the use of what has been widely defined as 'case studies'. This chapter provides an outline of the organisations studied in the course of the research. These included the British Labour Party, the British section of Amnesty International, an alternative lifestyle collective known as Exodus, two Tenants' Associations and one Residents' Association. The chapter examines the similarities and differences that existed between the natures of participation within the research sites. Taken together, the organisations studied provide a spectrum of political structures within which citizens participate. This stretches from traditional state initiated structures through to a major political party, a single-issue pressure group and a radical political experiment.
