Political Participation: The Spectrum from the Unconventional to the Conventional

Political participation is often conceptualized as spanning a spectrum from conventional modes of behavior, which are accepted by the norms of society and have the greatest sanction by the Constitution, to unconventional modes of behavior, which stretch the boundaries of the acceptable and not infrequently cross over into the illegal. As depicted in Figure 8.1, the most conventional of all modes of political participation is holding elected or appointed public offi ce.