... from making radical, unpopular changes, as even if they do not listen to the people, there is a need to keep the voters happy to ensure that they are re-elected. Political participation is the ability to follow an active role in politics. The level of political participation depends on how political issues affect people. If a decision is about to be made which will affect someone's daily life to a fairly large degree, then it is likely that it will also affect a large number of people, so those people affected will be able to form a pressure group to lobby the government to make changes. If the issue is fairly minor, then the only level of political participation may be a quick letter to the elected representative of the constituency to ask for their help in making sure the bins get emptied on time each week. Democracy, as already stated, is ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now