POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: MECHANISMS, IMPORTANCE AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Political participation is the ability of members of society to influence the politics of a country without being part of any party. That is, it is civil participation in the political sphere of a country. The term is commonly related to the electoral area, but encompasses all influence that civilians have in the country.

This includes public demonstrations for or against political leaders, and even acts of terrorism or violence carried out for political purposes. The most common means of expressing political participation is through the electoral arena, and the majority of civilians in a country tend to adhere to this method only to echo their governmental vision.

Shapes and mechanisms

The concept of political participation defines three defined types of participation that civilians can exercise. These are conventional, unconventional, and illicit political participation.

Conventional political participation

Conventional political participation is the type of participation expected of the majority of civilians in a country. It includes all kinds of basic activities that are not prone to generating major inconveniences within the development of politics, and rather adhere to the traditional rules of society.

For example, being part of a political campaign as a volunteer is considered a conventional activity that any civilian can carry out.

Campaigns usually require a large number of volunteers to support the party in question. This type of participation occurs mainly around the electoral period.

Many political groups often require donations to function optimally. Donating money to these groups is also considered a conventional activity.

Like volunteering, political parties usually ask for donations to finance their campaigns at election time.

Being a member of a public job position is also considered a type of conventional political participation.

It should be noted that most of the conventional methods are exercised during election time by the majority of civilians. There is an exception for those who are passionate about politics, who usually participate several times a year in conventional events.

Unconventional political participation

Unconventional political activity encompasses all kinds of political participation that is framed within the law, but that is not usually seen as appropriate.

It is carried out mainly by young people, students and people of any age who find themselves in disagreement with the regime that governs them.

The most basic form of unconventional participation is by signing petitions to stop some type of activity that is being carried out by the local, regional, state or national government. Signatures to request the removal of a political member are also framed in this concept.

Another way that has become popular in democratic regimes is to demonstrate discontent with the government through protests and mass movements in the streets.

Encouraging civil demonstrations is also considered an unconventional political activity, but it is one of the most common methods used today.

Illicit political participation

Illicit or illegal political participation is any civil movement that serves to create political change using illegal activities to obtain it.

Usually these methods are used when the two previous types of political participation have already been carried out without obtaining any significant benefit.

Although these methods are not always violent, they usually use this resource to achieve their objective. One of the most common forms of illicit political participation is sabotage of adverse political party campaigns.

In many cases civilians are hired to carry out these activities, but they can also carry them out of their own free will.

Terrorism is also an act of unlawful political participation, when it is carried out in order to obtain a change in the leadership of a country.

Terrorism is not considered political participation when it involves religious fanaticism, as is the case with terrorist groups such as ISIS or, at the time, Al-Qaeda.

The murder of members of political parties is also considered an unlawful political activity when it is carried out by an ordinary citizen.

Importance

Political participation is less and less common in societies where the population has a high level of conformity with their government. However, it is essential for a democratic system to function properly.

The freedom that each citizen has to express his opinion is closely linked to the development of political activity.

A democratic government must allow its citizens to express their opinion freely, without the use of repression of any kind. Therefore, this activity serves as an indicator of the governmental state of a country.

In addition, political participation is one of the best tools that people have to directly influence the development of government activities in their community or country.

An open development in the political sphere makes a citizen understand what is working and what is not within the system of his nation.

Examples

- The demonstrations of public discontent with the regime that occurred in Syria and Venezuela are one of the examples of massive unconventional political participation that have occurred in the recent history of the world.

- Support for the presidential candidacy of women in the Philippines is also an unconventional form of political participation that occurs today. This form of participation is also complemented by elements of gender equality.

- Abstaining from voting, with the intention of protesting an election that is believed to be rigged, is also considered a form of political participation and commonly occurs in dictatorial authoritarian regimes.

- Another example of political participation today occurred recently in the United States, when millions of Americans contacted the regional authorities of their Congress to try to prevent the approval of the Net Neutrality law.

References

1. The importance of your political participation, Right for Education Organization, 2017. Taken from rightforeducation.org
2. Political Participation - Political Culture and Public Opinion, B&N Textbooks, (nd). Taken from sparknotes.com
3. What is Political Participation ?, Jan van Deth, 2016. Taken from oxfordre.com
4. Political Participation, Angelo State University, (nd). Taken from angelo.edu
5. What is Political Participation? (nd). Taken from saylordotorg.io