Chapter 7

Virtually all regimes allow some degree of participation and representation, if only to bolster legitimacy, or at least the appearance of it. Democratic regimes all claim to value and promote widespread participation and representation, but they differ significantly in regard to the “best” ways to promote citizen involvement and representation of interests. This chapter discusses institutions for participation and representation in democracies.

A country’s formal political institutions—its electoral systems, political parties, and party systems—reveal much about how that country defines and how much it values participation and representation. For example, single-member district, first-past-the-post systems tend to favor local representation, but at the cost of more limited participation. Proportional representation systems, on the other hand, provide greater representation but tend to be more party-centric.

Democratic party systems also differ in the number of parties and in how those parties are organized and rule. Part of this difference arises out of the electoral system through which votes are aggregated. For example, SMD/FPTP arrangements tend to produce two-party systems.

A great deal of participation and interest representation also occurs in civil society. Political scientists investigate the internal organization of interest groups, the resources at the disposal of these groups, their overall institutional strength, and their relationships to the governments they try to influence. When citizens perceive formal institutions as providing inadequate representation or opportunities for political participation, they may choose to participate in groups or activities outside of them, often as part of social movements. Patron-client linkages constitute another very common form of informal participation.

In recent years in wealthy democracies, major debates have arisen over the apparent decline of political participation in its more traditional forms.  These include debates over citizens’ declining loyalty to major parties, declining social capital, and the rise of social movements.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand:

• The effects that different electoral rules have on representational outcomes.
   
• The advantages and drawbacks of single-member district versus proportional representation electoral systems.
   
• Potential causes and effects of decreasing partisan loyalty.
   
• Sociological and institutional theories for the origins of party systems.