Organized Civil Society, Participation and Citizenship in Europe: The Impact of the Economic and Social Crisis

Abstract

The social and political involvement of citizens at local and national level has become a key issue on the current political agenda. The economic and social crisis in Europe has accentuated the importance of different types of civic organizations in defending the social rights of citizens and mediating between them and the political authorities. The main reason for this is the crisis of legitimacy of representative democracy in the post-industrial countries. Additional factors to be considered are the difficulties of realizing democratic processes that are able to involve citizens in strategic decision-making at community, as well as national, level and difficulties in the identification and organization of welfare services, with special relevance for the vulnerable groups of citizens. These problems have been ascribed to the limitations of the prevailing forms of democracy in capturing the heterogeneity, complex interests and identities in our diverse societies. Active citizenship and civic involvement are often considered as part of the solution to these problems, but that is only the case if the citizens are empowered and directly involved in the democratic decision-making processes in society.