ABSTRACT
Political participation is the process of turning opinion into an action to inu-ence “who gets what.” In a representative democracy, political participation is a primary means of connecting the will of the people to the actions of government. If this connection is successfully made, participation helps uphold the core democratic principles of political freedom and majority rule. A hallmark of a democratic political system is that it counts heads rather than breaking them. If the will of the people is going to provide the fundamental basis for government action, then the people must participate in the political process.
