Opadanje političke participacije – kritični građani ili nova pokornost?
Decline of political participation – critical citizens or new deference?

Summary/Abstract: The decline of conventional political participation in advanced modern societies, an undisputed tendency in the past several decades, has been accompanied by the rise of unconventional democratic participation including protest politics (‘demonstration democracy’; ‘social movement society’), check-book activism, political consumerism etc. Although the signifi cance of altered patterns of democratic participation has been widely recognized, interpretations widely diverge. While some perceive them as a sign of postmaterial values of „critical citizens“ with higher expectations of democracy, others warn that new participatory forms might not be as eff ective as the old ones in bringing about political change. Still others, including the present author, fear that the decline of conventional political participation might actually signal „a new deference.“

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