Area of Focus: Democratic Participation

Created: Jan 06, 2007
Updated: Aug 08, 2007
Viewed: 1044 times

All Areas of Focus » Democracy and Voting »

Democratic Participation

Democratic participation requires answers to a series of questions: Who is eligible to participate? Age, sex, race, property ownership, a criminal record, literacy, and citizenship have all been used to separate voters from nonvoters. What actions can voters vote on? What actions are left to others to decide (e.g. by their representatives, bureaucrats, appointed officials)? What is beyond the reach of citizen influence? What rules and punishments exist to manage the constituency's representatives (e.g. moral codes, right to recall, impeachment, ability to sue for misconduct)? What rules exist to change the rules of representation (e.g. from an electoral college to direct election by the majority in the American presidency)?

Med_women

Photo source

Photo source

What knowledge (information, analysis) must be provided to the voter? Is the knowledge provided by public media and political advocacy groups slanderous or deceitful? Who are the monitor and enforcer in times of dispute or violation of democratic rules? Do they have the independence and resources to monitor and enforce fairly? Every democracy creates rights and responsibilities in order to encourage participation and to avoid a tyranny of the majority that might set rules that make voting a sham. Sometimes minorities cannot change the rules without civil disobedience or direct action against the government.

Featured Resources

E-participation and the Future of Democracy

Featured Organizations

Civil Society International assists independent organizations working for democracy and civil society in countries closed, or inhospitable, to these principles.

Democracy Matters informs and engages college students and communities in efforts to strengthen our democracy. With campus-based chapters throughout the country, we focus on the issue of private money in politics and other pro-democracy reforms.

America Speaks engages citizens in the public decisions that impact their lives. Since the organization's founding in 1995, AmericaSpeaks methodologies have engaged over 65,000 people in over 50 large-scale forums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Tags/Keywords

voting, representation, civic participation, right to vote, access to voting, fair election, democracy, democratic process, civic engagement, civil society, enabling participation, freedom from voting intimidation, participatory democracy, democratization, autonomy, democratic deficit, direct democracy, representative democracy

Quote

photo source

"Democratization serves the cause of peace because it offers the possibility of justice and of progressive change without force"

- Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations

Join the Discussion Forum to meet others interested in Democratic Participation.

Related WiserEarth Portals

Community Participation
Conflict Resolution
Democratic Reform
Democracy Education
Fair Electoral Process
Women's Civic Participation
Democracy and Voting
Democracy and Civil Society
Law and Policy Reform
Globalization
Globalization Impacts
Government Oversight and Reform
Information and Communication Technology
Institutional Accountability
Internet

AmericaSpeaks: Engaging Citizens in Governance

Comments (1 - 2 of 2)

Flag comment for removal

bowo 5 months ago

Thanks for sharing Lucy. It looks like an interesting event. I've created an event page for it at
http://www.wiserearth.org/event/view/211dd1e8bef8817e3d6ee7411c75e80e

Flag comment for removal

lgarrick 5 months ago

Change The Rules: An Un-Conference on Participative Government
June 27th and 28th, Everywhere

Democracy is a game in which we all make the rules.
How do we make this serious game more inclusive, more fair, and more fun?

Participation Camp (PCamp) will provide the spark for an explosion of sharing, experimentation, and collaboration around this question.

Participants may attend a wide variety of physical and virtual conference events.
Hear presentations, or deliver one yourself
Compete in a conference-wide participation game
Roll up their sleeves in a hands-on workshop.

Physical PCamp will be hosted at ITP@NYU.
Virtual PCamp is available through your personal computer.
There is no cost to attend. Register now.

PCamp Schedule and Events

What's Happening at Virtual PCamp?

1 to 2 of 2 Comments

Connections

Organizations (4532)
People (1394)
Groups (88)
Solutions (9)
Resources (175)
Jobs (7)
Events (164)

Contributors to this Page

more...