Building Citizen Involvement
There are a number of reasons we might hope for high levels of public participation
in a democratic society. The first reason is our belief that through
active participation we can most likely achieve the best political outcomes,
outcomes that reflect the broad judgments of the people as a whole or the
considered judgments of specific groups and are consistent with the norms of
democracy. Second, through participation, we might fulfill what Thompson
calls the democratic objective, “attaining rules and decisions which satisfy the
interests of the greatest number of citizens” (Thompson 1970, 184). Through
widespread public participation in civic affairs, citizens can help assure that
the individual and collective interests are being heard and responded to by
governmental officials. Moreover, they can prevent rulers from violating the
interests of citizens. Third, democratic participation enhances the legitimacy
of government. People who are involved in decision making are more likely
to support those decisions and the institutions involved in making and carrying
out those decisions.