The Challenge of the "Participatory Revolution" in Pluralist Democracies

Abstract

This article asks what the likely consequences are of the "participatory revolution" on the political process in Western democracies. The first wave of political mobilization provided citizens with equal voting rights and thereby laid a firm ground for the legitimacy of democratic institutions. After two "quiet" decades, the second wave of mobilization challenged those institutions, particularly the political parties. The nature of the challenge lies in the enormous social and technological changes Western democracies have undergone, as well as in the changing yardsticks citizens have come to apply to the established political institutions. This article raises the question why, in light of these developments, established political institutions have survived so well. The key to this quesion lies in the peripheral role of politics to most citizens and the lack of convincing alternative models of the political order to the democratic liberal polity.