Political Participation as an Engine of Social Solidarity

A Sceptical View

Bibliographic Data

ID6344669
AuthorsShlomi Segall (0000-0002-9124-3600, St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume53
Issue2
Pages362-378
Publication date2005-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00533.x
OpenAlexW2021757671
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited53

Political theorists sometimes advocate the intensification of citizens' participation in politics, on the grounds that this serves as an engine for the cultivation of social solidarity and civic virtue. I argue against such an initiative and set out the case for a more nuanced examination of the effect of particular modes of political participation on social solidarity, in light of recent empirical literature. Against the assertions of the theorists in question, the research reveals that political participation per se does not cultivate the said virtues, whereas entrusting citizens with deliberating and deciding specific policy issues (specifically in the form of citizens' juries or CJs) does. Finally, it is argued that there is a rather limited scope to the implementation of deliberative bodies of the kind that cultivates solidarity. Consequently, intensifying political participation is not a reliable means through which social solidarity can be cultivated

Civic virtue · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Scope (computer science · Skepticism · Social science · Social solidarity · Sociology · Solidarity · Virtue · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

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