Det dynamiska medborgarskapet

Abstract

Citizen participation in representative democracy: Proceedings from a seminar on the concluding report from the Democracy Commission, November 30, 2001. In Det dynamiska medborgarskapet [The Dynamic Citizenship], the commission argues that democratic citizenship consists of three related qualities: participation, influence, and involvement. The willingness of a citizen to be politically active, i.e. participate in politics, is decided by the perceived probability that this activity will create political influence, and by the subjective experience of involvement in public affairs. The notion of political participation is further elaborated by Ylva Stubbergaard in Det politiska medborgarskapets mångfald [The Multiplicity of Political Citizenship]. The public sector, and particularly the welfare state, creates many arenas for citizen participation outside of established formal political channels. Stubbergaard outlines a new research project on mothers' experiences in these arenas and how and to what extent the mothers become politically included. The Democracy Commission's case for participatory democracy is criticized by Peter Esaiasson in Den representativa demokratin som det goda styrelseskicket [Representative Democracy as the Good Government]. Participatory democracy undermines the political equality of the citizens, and requires a prevalent interest in public affairs that does not exist today. A compulsive and professional use of opinion polls on current political issues would be a better way to strengthen public political influence between elections. The possibility of using Internet as an arena for political deliberation is discussed by Mikael Sundström in Demokratiska avatarer [Democratic Avatars]. Internet allows user-anonymity, a feature that can be used and refined to force the participants in a discussion to focus on content and ideas rather than the sender. The systematic use of democratic avatars - a user-identity that protects the physical identity of the sender but at the same time reveals all messages that the user has sent - would purify the deliberation and allow dissentient opinions to be expressed without fear, while at the same time forcing the participants to be open and consistent in their argumentation. Consumers have the possibility of expressing political opinion by changing their consumptionpatterns, a phenomenon analyzed by Michèle Micheletti in Consumer Choice as Political Participation.Political consumerism, a politically motivated consumer choice of producers and products, is an old phenomenon..Historically consumerism has mainly been a negative choice in form of boycotts, whereas positive boycotts and global concerns are becoming more dominant today. Consumerism is particularly importantas channel for women's political engagement. Relevant distinctions are introduced.