Political Dropouts and the Effects of Participatory Innovations: What Ontario got Wrong and Norway gets Right

Abstract

A number of innovations have been introduced to reduce the democratic deficit. I am particularly concerned about the deficit as reflected in the decline in voting at elections among young citizens, and, more widely, the apparent decline in attentiveness to (and, thus, knowledge of) political life. The result is a large number of political dropouts, a phenomenon that tends to be ignored in the literature on alternate forms of political engagement. In a number of democratic countries, a majority can be characterized as political dropouts. I first portray this situation, drawing on comparative, generational indicators of political participation and knowledge. The main part of the paper looks for ways to address this state of events in the form of innovations that aim to promote participation and improve democratic skills what is being done, and needs to be done.