ABSTRACT
In the 1960s, a complex of ideas coalesced under the label “participatory democracy,” bringing together in a new formulation the traditional appeal of democracy with an innovative tie to broader participation. The emphasis on participation had many implications, but three have been primary: (1) an appeal for grassroots involvement of people throughout society in the decisions that control their lives; (2) the minimization of hierarchy and the associated emphasis on expertise and professionalism as a basis for leadership; and (3) a call for direct action as an answer to fear, alienation, and intellectual detachment. These ideas not only informed the student wing of the civil rights movement and the new left during the 1960s, but also the movements of the 1970s and 1980s that came to be called the “New Social Movements” in Western Europe and the United States.2
