ABSTRACT
Participation is considered one of the cornerstones of a healthy democracy. Regardless of whether it is through dialogue with the state, friction or even conflict, civil society actors and the state have always been the actors in the dyad that has defined the scope, borders and intensity of participation in the democratic arena. However, the latest development related to decreasing rates of democratic participation through elections and a profound disillusionment with democracy as a system globally shed a new light on the relation between participatory and representative democracy and the possible ‘suffocation’ of the participatory aspect by the representative one. Even more so, a lack of innovation in the modalities for democratic participation adds to the relative exhaustion of democracy as a participatory model. This chapter examines the connection between social movements, active citizenship and democratic innovation first by defining the terms ‘social movements’ and ‘active citizenship’; second, by analyzing social movements as democratizing actors in society; and third, by analyzing the concept of democratic innovation, its definition, theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical findings in the area.
