Activating the Citizen
Dilemmas of Participation in Europe and Canada

The decline of citizen involvement affects two key elements of democratic government: elections and political parties. Activating the Citizen examines the reasons underlying citizen withdrawal and explores and assesses innovative approaches on both sides of the Atlantic to try to counter these phenomena.

A real or potential 'democratic deficit' is haunting established democracies. Declining levels of citizen participation affect the ballot box, political party membership, and other forms of civic activism. So disturbing are these trends that governments themselves have undertaken assertive mobilization campaigns and institutional reforms to try to address them. Activating the Citizen not only examines the reasons underlying citizen withdrawal, but also explores and assesses innovative approaches on both sides of the Atlantic to try to counter these phenomena. Bringing together research by Canadian and European scholars, this volume considers proactive approaches such as changing political party leadership selection practices, new forms of civic education to engage youth, direct citizen participation through Citizens' Assemblies and referendums, and the construction of issues so as to elicit responses in the name of 'good citizenship'. All of these political measures are designed to 'activate the citizen'.

Introduction
J.H.Pammett&
J.DeBardeleben PART I: DEFINING THE PARTICIPATION GAP Citizen Participation and Democratic Deficits: Considerations from the Perspective of Democratic Theory
M.Warren The Decline of Political Participation: An Empirical Overview of Voter Turnout and Party Membership
A.Siaroff PART II: VOTER TURNOUT: UNDERSTANDING THE DECLINE Turnout in Electoral Democracies Revisited
A.Blais&
A.Dobrzynska Where Turnout Holds Firm: The Scandinavian Exceptions
J.Elklit&
L.Togeby New Members, Old Issues: The Problem of Voter Turnout in European Parliament Elections
J.DeBardeleben&
L.LeDuc PART III: PARTIES AS VEHICLES OF PARTICIPATION Party Membership and Activism in Comparative Perspective
P.Whiteley Models of Party Organization and Europarties
L.Bardi&
E.Calossi Grassroots Participation and Party Leadership Selection: Examining the British and Canadian Cases
W.Cross&
J.Crysler PART IV: BEYOND ELECTIONS AND PARTIES: INNOVATIONS IN ACTIVATING CITIZENS Participation and the Good Citizen
J.H.Pammett Institutionalizing Participation through Citizens' Assemblies
J.Rose Citizen Involvement in Constitutional Politics: European and Canadian Experiences
L.LeDuc Youth Engagement, Civic Engagement, and New Vehicles of Political Participation
E.Saunders