The Professionalisation of Participatory Democracy: Class and Cultural Biases in Citizen Advisory Councils.
Numerous democratic innovations have tried to promote the ideal of social and political inclusion. This value was at the core of associative democracy and citizen advisory councils, which rely on associations and individual citizens to represent diverse voices. However, recent research has found tha...
| Publicado en: | Political Studies Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 187 - 210 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications Inc.
Feb2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=191348554&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 191348554 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00323217 PSZ jtl: Political Studies issn: 00323217 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Feb2026 vid: 74 iid: 1 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 191348554 10.1177/00323217251319065 ppf: 187 ppct: 23 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 191348554 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 191348554 tig: atl: The Professionalisation of Participatory Democracy: Class and Cultural Biases in Citizen Advisory Councils. aug: au: García-Espín, Patricia Lancha-Hernández, Emma affil: Department of Sociology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados (IESA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Córdoba, Spain Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), Sevilla, Spain su: Professionalization Classism Participation Cultural prejudices Advisory boards Social integration Institutional environment Participatory democracy sug: subj: Professionalization Classism Participation Cultural prejudices Advisory boards Social integration Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services Institutional environment Participatory democracy keyword: associative democracy citizen advisory councils education institutional design participatory democracy social class social inequalities associative democracy citizen advisory councils education institutional design participatory democracy social class social inequalities ab: Numerous democratic innovations have tried to promote the ideal of social and political inclusion. This value was at the core of associative democracy and citizen advisory councils, which rely on associations and individual citizens to represent diverse voices. However, recent research has found that these spaces are not particularly inclusive: inequalities in associationism and biased mobilisation play a central role. In this respect, the article argues that previous studies have not fully explained how institutional design and institutional dynamics can be penetrated by class inequalities. The type of participation labour significantly influences who participates and why, becoming a central exclusionary factor. With this idea in mind, we analyse two surveys and ninety-six interviews with Spanish council participants, which reveal that these spaces are highly professionalised. Their design and the planned tasks shape associations' mobilisation strategies, leading to the prioritisation of professionals. Also, the participation labour requires specific skills linked to cultural capital, technical knowledge and dispassionate discourse, making involvement exigent and exclusive regarding education and social class. In the end, institutional design and participation labour can discourage popular participation, even if it was not intended. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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