Challenges and realities of political participation and civic engagement in central and eastern Europe

Authors: Joakim Ekman, Sergiu Gherghina and Olena Podolian

Type of publication: Article peer review

Abstract
The way in which citizens get involved in politics, as voters, activists or protesters, remains one of the most studied phenomena in social sciences. The actions and orientations of ordinary citizens generally define the acceptable boundaries of politics and demarcate the space within which political elites can resolve controversies. Research on the various forms of political involvement – political participation, civic engagement, protest behaviour, engagement in social movements and other forms of collective action – has for a long time focused mainly on Western democracies. The conventional wisdom has been that political participation and collective action, in comparison to the situation in western Europe, is a low-frequency phenomenon in central and eastern Europe.

Reference to the article
Joakim Ekman, Sergiu Gherghina & Olena Podolian (2016) Challenges and realities of political participation and civic engagement in central and eastern Europe, East European Politics, 32:1, 1-11, DOI: 10.1080/21599165.2016.1141091

Link to article
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21599165.2016.1141091