ABSTRACT
Participation in collective self-government has been a key value of republican thought since Aristotle, though its significance, availability and extent have all been contested. Since the eighteenth century at least republicans have been divided into those who advocate representative politics and those who argue for a more direct say by citizens in the direction of political affairs. In a more instrumental account of republicanism, participation is considered valuable in protecting the pursuit of individual ends; in a stronger republican account, it is a good in itself, as well as a means to determine or realise other social goods. In this chapter I consider whether, and under what conditions, widespread participation may be realised in modern societies marked by moral and cultural diversity.
