Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies

<p>This unique study presents the results of a cross-national analysis of citizenship and participation among citizens in twelve European democracies.</p><p>Research on the future and quality of contemporary democracy is usually restricted to focus either on political participation, on particular aspects of citizenship, or on social activities, exclusively. This new book offers the first empirical investigation of the relationships both between social and political involvement, and between ‘small-scale’ and ‘large-scale’ democracies. </p><p><em>Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies</em> offers representative samples of the populations in a selection of European countries between 2000-2002, including: Denmark, Germany (East and West), Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The leading contributors provide new theoretical insights and offer a broad conceptualization of citizenship, stimulating the ongoing discussions about the problems and challenges of democratic political systems.</p><p>This book has a companion volume entitled <em>Social Capital and Associations in European Democracies</em> edited by William A. Maloney and Sigrid Roßteutscher (Routledge, 2006). </p><p>Both volumes will be of great interest to students and researchers of European politics, comparative politics and sociology.</p> <p><strong>Introduction </strong> 1. Citizenship, Involvement, and Democracy in Europe <em>Anders Westholm, José Ramón Montero, and Jan W. van Deth </em><strong>Part 1: Civic Orientations </strong>2. Trust in People, Confidence in Political Institutions, and Satisfaction with Democracy <em>Sonja Zmerli, Ken Newton, and José Ramón Montero </em>3. Political Confidence in Representative Democracies: Socio-Cultural vs. Political Explanations <em>Bas Denters, Oscar Gabriel, and Mariano Torcal </em>4. Norms of Good Citizenship <em>Bas Denters, Oscar Gabriel, and Mariano Torcal </em>5. Political and Social Tolerance <em>José Manuel Leite Viegas </em><strong>Part 2: Voluntary Organizations and Social Networks </strong>6. Associational Involvement <em>Laura Morales and Peter Geurts </em>7. Explaining Associational Involvement <em>Gabriel Badescu and Katja Neller </em>8. Social Networks <em>Hajdeja Iglic and Joan Font Fábregas </em><strong>Part 3: Small-Scale Democracy </strong>9. Small-Scale Democracy: Citizen Power in the Domains of Everyday Life <em>Jørgen Goul Andersen and Sigrid Roßteutscher </em>10. Small-Scale Democracy: The Determinants of Action <em>Hanspeter Kriesi and Anders Westholm </em>11. Small-Scale Democracy: The Consequences of Action <em>Anders Westholm and Emanuel von Erlach </em><strong>Part 4: Large-Scale Democracy </strong>12. Political Involvement <em>Irene Martín and Jan W. van Deth </em>13. Political Participation: Mapping the Terrain <em>Jan Teorell, Mariano Torcal, and José Ramón Montero </em>14. Political Participation and Associational Involvement <em>Klaus Armingeon </em>15. Participation and Political Equality: An Assessment of Large-Scale Democracy <em>Jan Teorell, Paul Sum, and Mette Tobiasen </em><strong>Conclusion</strong> 16. The Realisation of Democratic Citizenship in Europe <em>José Ramón Montero, Anders Westholm, and Jan W. van Deth</em></p>