The Participation Gap: Social Status and Political Inequality

The dilemma of democracy arises from two contrasting trends. More people in the established democracies are participating in civil society activity, contacting government officials, protesting, and using online activism and other creative forms of participation. At the same time, the importance of social status as an influence on political activity is increasing. The democratic principle of the equality of voice is eroding. The politically rich are getting richer-and the politically needy have less voice.This book assembles an unprecedented set of international public opinion surveys to identify the individual, institutional, and political factors that produce these trends. New forms of activity place greater demands on participants, raising the importance of social status skills and resources. Civil society activity further widens the participation gap. New norms of citizenship shift how people participate. And generational change and new online forms of activism accentuate this process. Effective and representative government requires a participatory citizenry and equal voice, and participation trends are undermining these outcomes. The Participation Gap both documents the growing participation gap in contemporary democracies and suggests ways that we can better achieve their theoretical ideal of a participatory citizenry and equal voice.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1: Political Equality as the Foundation of Democracy Individual Level Patterns 2: Opening Political Doors 3: For Richer or Poorer, Politically Speaking 4: Civil Society Mobilizing Action 5: Age, Generations, and Participation 6: What's a Good Citizen to Do? 7: The Special Case of Online Activism Contextual Patterns 8: Russell J. Dalton and Steve Weldon: Contextual Influences on Participation 9: Is the Gap Growing? Implications 10: The Political Leanings of the Choir 11: Democracy in Unequal Terms Appendix: Survey Questions

About the Author :
Russell Dalton is a Research Professor of Political Science at the Center for the Study of Democracy at the University of California, Irvine. Dalton has been awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship, Scholar-in-Residence at the Barbra Streisand Center, German Marshall Fund Research Fellowship, and the POSCO Fellowship at the East West Center in Hawaii. His research focuses on the role of citizens in the political process. His publications include Political Parties and Democratic Linkage (OUP, 2011), and Citizens, Context, and Choice (OUP, 2011).

Review :
In this excellent book, Russell Dalton uses data from twenty established democracies to assess systematically the multiple individual attributes and contextual factors that influence levels of political activity and to investigate the extent to which participation is characterized by a class based gap. In so doing, he provides a tremendous service for students of citizen political behavior -- especially those who, like me, study a single democracy often cited as an outlier when it comes to the way its democracy works. Russ Dalton in one of the world's leading experts on political participation and this new volume tackles a key issue arising from growing inequality in income and wealth which is occurring across most of the democratic world class, race, educational and income-related inequalities in political participation, which in turn give rise to differences in public policy outcomes and ultimately affect the life chances of ordinary citizens. It is a meticulous and masterful analysis of a serious problem facing democratic politics today, and essential reading for anyone interested in the consequences of inequality in contemporary society. In the middle of a deluge of trendy complaints and fact-free meditations about democracy Dalton presents a nuanced empirical analysis of the most serious failure of liberal democracyits enduring inability to involve permanent losers. His cross-national and longitudinal data show that the continuous expansion of participation ironically results in growing political inequality. Everyone concerned about the future of democratic politics should read Dalton's thoughtful considerations on the pros and cons of rising biased participation.