New Participatory Dimensions In Civil Society: Professionalization And Individualized Collective Action (routledge/ecpr Studies In European Political Science)

This book examines citizen engagement in contemporary democratic politics and the development of new participatory forms. Based on empirical information gathered from citizens, activists and organizations, it examines the changing face of democratic participation. Advanced democracies are 'plagued' by the complex problem of basing political decisions on the active engagement of citizens and citizens' organisations. Although the benefits of an active citizenry appear great, the reality is that most citizens positively embrace a relatively marginal role in organised politics. The conventional activist -citizens as active members engaged in voluntary associations and collective decision-making - seems to be replaced by passive supporters and donors or ephemeral or episodic democratic participators. This volume aims to address several issues at the core of this transformation: the rise of checkbook participation, the growing attractiveness of individualized forms of participation, and the increasing relevance of professional expertise. Looking beyond the traditional single focus on participation or on organizations in isolation, the book innovatively examines the empirical link that can be established between actual developments in democratic participations and the organizational framework in European countries. New Participatory Dimensions in Civil Society is essential reading for students and scholars of democracy, participation, civil society, politics and sociology Introduction: democracy, professionalization and participation / Jan W. van Deth and William A. Maloney How to domesticate civil society by public-private partnerships / Matthias Freise Entrepreneurial participation in international local politics / Nicolas Maisetti New issues, new forms of action? / Christopher Rootes The professionalization of EU's civil society / Sabine Saurugger The democratic contribution of professionalized representation / William A. Maloney Professionalized supply-side mobilization: are financial contributors meaningful participants? / Grant Jordan New modes of participation and norms of citizenship / Jan W. van Deth A remedy for unequal participation? how welfare states impact on social and political engagement / Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen Peripheral participants. the activation of the politically less engaged in advanced democracies / Eline A. de Rooij Surrogates for the underrepresented? ideology and participatory inequality in personal and professional political action / Tom W.G. van der Meer The stability of individualized collective action / Ellen Quintelier and Marc Hooghe Youth participation from the top-down / Ariadne Vromen Conclusions: how democratic is professionalized and individualized political action? / Jan W. van Deth and William A. Maloney. This volume explores how citizens participate in democratic politics today and the development of new participatory forms. It demonstrates that while the benefits of an active citizenry appear great in advanced democracies, many citizens don' t find political involvement attractive and increasingly leave the floor to professional associations and opt for individualized modes of collective action. With a series of empirical and comparative case studies, the authors focus on two key types of political participation: The rise ..