Political participation is any activity in which citizens, or groups of citizens, take steps to influence the government.

Participation, no matter at what level, can be beneficial when it results in benefits to the society in which the individual lives. On the other hand, participating based on incomplete or faulty understanding could result in unfavorable government policy or action.

Plato's resistance to the democracy practiced in Athens at the time suggests that participation by large groups of citizens could lead to the mob-rule. He supported a more oligarchic form of government, because elections were limited to higher-class society. Plato's government would not accept that all citizens should participate in politics unless they were properly trained. He claimed that average citizens without training lacked the necessary judgement. Aristotle, on the other hand, was more supportive of participation. He believed any citizen could be properly informed to participate effectively. Aristotle said that citizens had an obligation to participate in politics. He said that through participation society gained more direct support from government. For him, citizens possessed the ability to form societies where equal and just treatment was practiced through direct participation in their governments.

When thinking about the individual, we examine two important roles. One role is as a single player acting alone. Another is as a member of a larger group to increase influence. Even in a group we still contribute as a single part. As a member of a group the individual gains power to influence policies and interests through broader support. Thus, focus on the individual as primary actor addresses both the individual, who provides influence through personal action, and on how, as a part of larger social element, the individual influences government by joining others.

According to their writings, citizens were entitled to freedoms available through natural law. They said that government should assure that these freedoms were available to citizens in an unwritten social contract that claimed each citizen would benefit from state protection. In return, citizens should support the government and its rules. On the other side of the agreement citizens had the individual right to rebel against a government that denied these natural freedoms. This suggests an active role for the individual to participate one way or another to influence behavior of government in order to assure freedoms found in nature.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) provided explanations for how individualism (the concept of self) could be known. His subdivisions of individualism, that is, egoism (belief about self) and rationalism (rule-based behavior) became the basis for renewed thinking about politics. The idea that individualism does not come in only one dimension is important. Egoism results from inner feelings with non-rational, emotional roots; rationalism results from the conscious mental process of thinking.

According to Karl and Hegel, the individual is a rational actor whose behavior could be determined by acts of individual desire and thinking, specifically through the process of asking questions - seek and investigate.

The most important focus on the individual and their responsibilities for action and involvement in matters of government can be seen in the French Revolution, in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, delivered in 1789. That document, along with the U.S. Constitution with its Bill of Rights in 1791, created a set of universally accepted individual and collective rights, claiming to be valid at all times and in all places, because they are part of human nature.

Political culture can be defined in two ways:

• The widely-shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government,

• A distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.

Gabriel Almond defined political culture as a unifying idea to help understand how people who work together and share common beliefs and common expectations, deal with political issues.

Individuals enter the political arena to serve their own individual interests.

 There are so many different reasons for an individual to have interest in politics. The first one is the desire to have enough money needed for survival. Another reason is the religious opinions of each individual, even those individuals claiming no religious faith. Educational  needs are another concern for individuals to enter the political area. Social mobility, such as people moving for work or family reasons, creates a different perspective for each individual interest.

The value of education has two dimensions. One is to increase employment potential, and as a result of more employment also to increase the tax base; the other is to support the development of self-interests aligned with Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of individual needs.

Europe has an environment with more potential for active participation for individuals due to the influences of democracy. From roots in liberalism, individuals have a stronger desire to support self-interest than for ancestral values found in oriental cultures. But China represents a complex environment of cultural issues resulting from political differences.

Citizens cannot be required to participate in the political process. They do so voluntarily. But unless citizens participate there is no influence toward a democracy "for the people." Without citizen action, democracy is weakened. The right of individuals to join together and to participate freely is fundamental to democracy.

 As a member of Europe for most of its active political existence, the Russian Federation exists in a very different way than Europe as far as how its population views democracy. Russian leadership actively reduces the opportunities for citizens to participate, which they do much less than they might want to. Claims for democracy, and symptoms of authoritarian behavior, can be noticed at the same time. It should be accepted that legitimacy is fundamental for citizen participation.

Participation in the Western Hemisphere seems to be unlimited, except for a few countries with governmental leadership that has tight control over the citizens. Active participation in these few countries, Venezuela and Colombia, for example, takes place in the form of open rebellion against unsupportive national leadership. Even in countries of civil unrest, elements of democracy retain influence in favoring openness to participation.

In striking contrast to Western Europe and to Western-Hemisphere countries, African nations pose major problems that limit political participation by citizens. With a few exceptions such as the Republic of South Africa, states are more interested in establishing independence or freedom from oppression than in promising stability for citizen-government collaboration.

Usually we participate because we want to see something accomplished that might not happen without our influence. We expect that by participating, we are encouraging what we believe will support our interests. We might even participate because others ask us to participate or to support someone or something that does not involve us or impact us.

There are, of course, many ways to participate. Some processes, such as voting, exist by law to make the active involvement of citizens in the shaping of government easier. Groups formed from common interests and common concerns are another way to be involved. Still other channels just simply happen, as in resistance to unfair treatment by authorities. These channels somehow get public attention, and individuals who connect with the message can join in the call for change.

Younger people lack in participation because they have less interest in government, own less property, do not have substantial loans, and are generally unaware of benefits from participation. Another reason is that younger people are unfamiliar with methods of participation, and in the environment of social networks they might be developing means of participation not yet integrated into the political process. We might also note that young people tend not to have children and, therefore, lack parental concerns for their economic and political wellbeing.

There are two dimensions. One dimension is the individual acting alone through civil engagement. The other dimension is the individual acting through groups.

The most important form of participation for the individual is to be educated on the issues. Understanding issues as a basis for participation is critical to success. Various sources of information on any subject are available through newspapers, magazines, and academic materials with their rich listings of reference materials. A broad understanding of a political issue offers the best opportunity to judge its importance and to determine what course of action to take on that issue.

The two most common ways of participation for an individual are voting and protest.

Voter turnout (not to be confused with number of registered voters) is the percentage of eligible voters who actually cast a ballot in an election.

 Protest is a kind of participation by the individuals that results from concerns about what is learned when studying the differences in law or policy between different governments, and how each government behaves according to these conditions.

One of the most critical forms of civil disobedience is refusing to pay taxes. Another popular form of disobedience is demonstrated by spontaneous protest marches where government permission to assembly is not granted. More active involvement could include demonstrating through boycotts, sit-ins, or other forms of civil resistance through disruption.

Other forms of active participation are activities as campaigning for a candidate to understand platform issues, contributing money to a party or a candidate, lobbying for laws influencing special interests, or holding public office.

Issue groups very often are formed to highlight attention to local interests such as commercial zoning or need for better sanitation services.

Economic self-interest and beliefs, values and attitudes are the common reasons for belonging to a group. Also the individuals who join a group tend to be from upper income levels.

Two very contentious national issues of concern to the public are the economy and military actions. 

Lobby groups promote issues such as increasing corporate influence on government, reforming government policy related to social activities, and addressing how law enforcement is supported.

The objective in this type of participation is to gain strength in numbers to lobby for collective bargaining, workplace safety, higher wages, and better benefits.

The success of a political party is directly based on the support it gains from membership.

In order to gain membership, political parties develop a broad ideological agenda. This is necessary to maintain legitimacy as a political party while appealing to the largest segment of the voting population.

The purpose for any political party is to gain a majority in order to be influential in its actions for better government and to assure that its candidates are elected and remain in office.

Political parties are active participation entities in themselves. They recruit members, they nominate candidates for political office, and they conduct campaigns to support candidates seeking public office. Well-organized parties develop policy programs to be considered by legislators, they provide formal evaluations of existing program policies, and in many cases they offer alternative solutions to public concerns.

Such involvement is usually related to a local issue. It occurs on a volunteer basis where funds are not unusually demanded to cover advertising, marketing, and organizational costs. Grassroots groups can appear spontaneously without structure or initial funding, and they can grow as an issue increases in intensity and as outside support grows. As local concern loses impetus, its membership falls of and energies in the group may be transferred to another issue.

The major political issues expressed by the citizens are;

• Energy and environment

• Conflict and poverty

• International peace

• Global impacts

• Domestic tranquility.

Some specific concerns of domestic tranquility are terrorism and local crime, health crises, citizen involvement in politics, aging population and education needs.

 Immigration control, effects from military engagement, and global security are specific concerns of conflict and poverty.

Examples of non-governmental organizations include the Red Cross to support disaster victims and Doctors Without Borders to support communities suffering health crises. Support to such groups is found among local special interest groups more than among individuals.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) address several different issues: inflation rates to maintain pace with devalued currency on world markets, educational standards for school systems attended by international students, security concerns for international travelers, and health issues arising from several different causes such as travelers and food products.

some international governmental organizations with political orientation exist to address larger worldwide issues. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are both a result of international agreements that followed World War II. They are meant to improve the world economy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was also formed following World War II to promote policies that would improve the economic and social wellbeing of populations around the world. Its initial claim was to avoid social problems resulting from  

Since the advent of the internet, a new method exists for establishing connections between citizens. Persons can share with one another political views to gain support for their cause and they may spread these views across the social domain.

During election campaigns candidates are taking advantage of internet connection and using social network applications to spread their messages.

The main factors affecting an individual’s political participation are;

• Desperation

• Deprivation of rights

• Support to personal morality

• Obligation imposed by cultural pressures.

Laws move slowly through legislative bodies, but societies move at a fast pace, attempting to take advantage of new technologies and more convenient products. For example, speed limits established for vehicles lacking provisions for safety do not satisfy a society that has become comfortable with the safety of newer, and advanced vehicles that no longer have safety problems. Waiting for new laws, or for changes to outdated ones, is difficult for most citizens, because they lack the patience to understand and appreciate the slow process of legislation.

If a community experiences many long delays, the leadership will often face resistance from citizens or citizen groups.

Citizens are more likely to participate actively when unfavorable processes impact them. Participation would be even more active if citizens understood that all of government behavior has an effect on them, even if not directly. The environment changes, and it has an effect on individuals whether or not they participate. Those individuals who do participate are more likely to be able to accommodate change when it occurs.

Political culture as a concept is recent. It is credited to Gabriel Almond (1956) as a unifying idea to help understand how people who work together and share common beliefs and common expectations, deal with political issues (Almond, 2006: 393). Keep in mind that the main function of politics is to decide how power is used and how benefits are distributed. Whoever can get political power decides on the process of governing, even on the nature and content of constitutional documents. It is one thing to have guidance through formal or informal laws and regulations and another thing to understand how the rules and processes are understood and applied in a way that gives an advantage to one social class while hurting other classes.

The concept of individualism became popular as the result of social movements at the end of the 18th century. Individualism was often said to be the foundation for the kind of democracy practiced in the United States. The United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 says that the individual is the most important part of a democracy. Understanding this concept helps explain that the values of the individual were seen as more important than those of political groups, of levels of government, and, of course, the leadership of the British monarchy. Social systems were expected to support the individual’s desire for self-fulfillment and happiness. This was the official expectation of government, even though the actual communities that people lived in set different rules and standards of behavior for the sake of social protection, for national security, and for the economy. Other governments since then have reflected the same idea of values centered on the wellbeing of the individual.

Voting: From a base of informed judgment, the individual participates by voting in elections at both local and state levels. This would reflect knowledge from interactive political discussions among peers or from reading political material. Informed judgment also provides a good basis to influence others, especially representative political leaders already in elected office.

Social mobility, such as people moving for workor family reasons, creates a different perspective for each individual interest. Many individuals are content to remain within a closed community,working near their homes. They seek neighborhoodsupports such as traffic lights and garbage collection.Others who are required to travel great distances and who seek more mobility are less interested in local support in favor of good trains, busses, and roads. These two groups of people seek different supports from government, possibly debating the way that government money is distributed. In a more global sense, the degree of democracy or supporting people’s need to make a living and pursue a decent life may or may not be a concern for the individual. If an individual has no need to express a lack of resources the level of interest in democracy focused on the liberal distribution of allowances and benefits is lower than if an individual experiences difficulties in how society limits his/her ability toward personal fulfillment.

Voter turnout (not to be confused with number of registered voters) is the percentage of eligible voters who actually
cast a ballot in an election.

Another example of participation by the individual results from concerns about what is learned when studying the differences in law or policy between different governments, and how each government behaves according to
these conditions. An individual reacting to what is considered bad government behavior can result in civil disobedience. Faced with punishment, an individual deciding to disobey a law should consider if illegal behavior to show anger is worth punishment from the legal system, which is designed to protect the state.

Voting is considered fundamental to the practice of democracy. Being able to vote requires systems to accommodate
means available to the individual to cast a vote. Unsupportive regulations for voting could prevent an individual from registering or even from accessing voting mechanisms. The loss of means to take advantage of a right inherent in the democracy is a cause for concern, and a means to participate toward demonstrating this concern must be found.

An individual can abide by laws and social expectations as part of personal morality, but circumstances may occur contrary to how the individual finds success. Attempts to seek resolution of problems interfering with personal progress canlead to a dead-end, closing off all options for relief. Out of desperation the individual may resort to illegal acts to find a means to improve conditions. Indirectly, the individual may develop problems about restrictive rules. A form of redress must be found, and an effective participation to bring about this redress is needed.

We saw earlier that religion can sit in competition with government over the issue of sovereignty. Morality, as a system of supporting beliefs, can come in conflict when rules for one source of sovereignty conflict with
those of the other. Wearing of personal items to demonstrate allegiance to one religion might be regarded as insulting to another religion. Conflicts may also occur because of the tension between science and religion. Another issue of concern to government, one that causes participation from both sides of an issue, results from the idea of evolution. Whether or not views as a result of scientific study or those resulting from a belief in “creation” are accurate, differences of opinion about what constitutes civil rights might result. Issues such as abortion and assisted suicide come under dispute. Social laws can be contentious. In a democracy claiming equal support to all citizens, is it not surprising that laws satisfying one element may conflict with supporters of other elements?

Lobby groups promote issues such as increasing corporate influence on government, reforming government policy related to social activities, and addressing how law enforcement is supported. Concerns are more specific than both general ideological issues of political parties and temporary problems experienced by citizens in their daily lives.

Just as citizens join together in political groups that are mostly based on special issues, they also organize themselves in work units or trade unions. Their objective in this type of participation is to gain strength in numbers to lobby for collective bargaining, workplace safety, higher wages, and better benefits. 

Participation, no matter at what level, can be beneficial when it results in benefits to the society in which the
individual lives. On the other hand, participating based on incomplete or faulty understanding could result in unfavorable government policy or action. In short, we evaluate actions that are positive, and how these actions can result in helpful policy, and what outcomes are expected from them. The reasons to participate cover a broad range of interests.

Seeds for the concept of the individual as king were expressed during the Protestant Reformation, which was inspired by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others, during the 16th century. This movement tried to place individual behavior above the strict rules of the Catholic Church. Together it was claimed that rather than through discipline administered by organized religion, individuals were naturally able to speak directly with God. More importantly, perhaps,
individuals were right to resist the corrupt behavior of the Church.

Egoism and rationalism

Europe has an environment with more potential for active participation for individuals due to the influences of democracy. From roots in liberalism, individuals have a stronger desire to support selfinterest than for ancestral values found in oriental cultures. In societies that are still in many ways reacting to the effects of two world wars, one might expect to find less cultural influence on politics. Interplay from allied forces, with military interaction, goes against the idea that Europe has a single political identity. Europe could have a distinct political culture that would have to accommodate how different countries rebuild their societies and the governments protecting them.

The United States is dominated by two major parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, although lesser parties appear at elections to represent interests and issues that are not on the agenda of the major parties.

In Brazil, there are four major parties, but the political influence of each depends on changes in political-economic issues that tend to be volatile. Nevertheless, their political span includes a worker’s party, a democratic movement party, a social democrat party, and a lesser democrat party.

France has many political parties, running to as many as eleven in first round national elections, but run-off elections
tend to support conservative, social democrat, communist, and nationalist candidates. In the 2017 French national election for president, a new party (La République En Marche) appeared to benefit from political issues underserved by the previous two presidents.

Interest group dynamics are complex. Dependency on large membership for support makes them vulnerable to limited interests of citizens to participate. Because of the large membership of the group, support for financial matters are required. Also, receiving the attention of elected officials who are responsible for policies addressed are required. Some groups draw support from greater numbers of citizens than directly involved in the issues supported. Levels of participation may be exaggerated. Subsequently, some issues may be relevant to minority interests but can win the support of the majority of citizens.

Some states such as Sweden and Canada have welcoming policies, while the United States and the United
Kingdom are implementing strict laws to limit immigration. Germany changed from an initial policy of accepting immigrants to more recently implementing policy to restrict immigration. Some states, such as France and Italy, appear to have little control over their respective borders due to the geography that makes them candidate for massive immigration, either from Eastern Europe or from North Africa. The benefits in liberal policy were seen in how immigrants could contribute to unmet labor needs. However, social costs seemed not to have been accommodated in existing fiscal policies.