The Effectiveness of Different Forms of Political Participation

Abstract

Abstract In an era marked by concerns about democratic legitimacy, the question of whether citizens’ political actions are effective in achieving intended outcomes is of utmost importance. Although a core idea in democratic theory is that democratic governance should be responsive to the will of the people, most empirical research on this topic has focused on the opinion–representation connection, with less focus on the participation–representation connection. This chapter reviews three key areas of research that inform this topic, namely the categorizations used to distinguish between different forms of participation, including institutionalized and non-institutionalized participation; recent empirical studies that investigate the participation–representation connection; and the main attitudinal measure related to effectiveness of political efficacy. The concluding section includes a brief analysis of cross-national data on these topics from the European Social Survey, with a focus on providing insights into the challenges and opportunities for advancing future research.