ABSTRACT
Involvement with politics is one of the ways in which citizens connect with their communities. The need for a minimum level of political interest is generally accepted, whereas a lack of political involvement is considered destructive for democracy. Without a minimum level of curiosity about politics citizens would not even be aware of the political process or of the opportunities to defend their well-being and to contribute to collective decisions. In democratic systems citizens have to express their demands, wishes, expectations, conceptions, and interests, and these expressions require at least some minimum level of engagement. But even if curiosity or awareness are certainly necessary, they are not sufficient conditions for democracy according to various theoretical models of democracy. Authors such as Benjamin Barber (1984 and 1995) urged for a much more ‘participatory’ democracy, as an alternative for liberal ‘thin democracy’ or ‘politics as zoo keeping’. Interest in public affairs is a ‘key sign of civic virtue’ (Walzer 1980: 64; see also Putnam 1993: 87) as well as a critical precondition for more active and collective forms of involvement (Verba et al. 1995: 334; Putnam 2000: 31-7). ‘If you don’t know the rules of the game and the players and don’t care about the outcome, you’re unlikely to try playing yourself’ (Putnam, 2000: 35).
