Civic Participation

Irmina Matonyte

Civic participation can be defined as citizens' access to and participation in information, decision making, and implementation of public policies broadly construed; taking part in democracy—individually or as a part of organized groups—through communication and public actions (including electoral campaigns and elections) where public interests prevail over private ones; the act of becoming involved in the political process and working to better the community; and a means to guarantee the credibility of institutions, through articulation of citizens' demands and holding public officials accountable. As the base concept of participation, the notion of civic participation is rooted in the normative assumption that the efficiency of any economic, management, and other social system as well as the legitimacy of democratic political systems depends on the involvement and participation of the public and does not simply derive from the output dispensed by the system. The term civic participation concentrates on the different This ...

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