Question
What is political participation?
Definition
Political participation consists of actions through which people seek to affect government decisions, political representation, or public affairs. The cited MIT lecture emphasizes private, goal-directed activity that can influence government directly or indirectly.
What counts?
Voting selects representatives. Campaign volunteering helps candidates compete. Contacting an official communicates a request. Joining a demonstration expresses a public demand. These activities can occur through established institutions or outside electoral channels.
Action and opinion are different
Holding a preference alone is not the same as acting on it. Someone can oppose a policy privately, then participate by sending that objection to a decision-maker. Participation need not achieve its intended result to count.
Definitions vary at the edges. Whether a consumer choice or online activity counts depends on its political purpose and context. The core idea extends beyond voting, while avoiding the assumption that every social activity is political.
Evidence boundary
This responds to the independent definition question on slide 3 of MIT’s Spring 2004 participation lecture. The explanation concerns the concept, not current turnout or voting eligibility. Examples are illustrative, and broader definitions of expressive participation can draw boundaries differently.
Sources
These references support the concepts and methods used in the explanation above.