CASEY A. KLOFSTAD WEBPAGE: POLITICAL SCIENCE 548

Democracy is a system of rule under which the actions of the government are based on the wishes of the citizenry. Citizens participate in the governing process by communicating their preferences and pressuring the government to respond. In this course we examine these various mechanisms of civic participation, and discuss the meaning and consequences of participatory democracy. The course focuses on the contemporary United States, but we devote some time to discuss civic participation in other countries as well.