ABSTRACT
The term participation refers to the involvement of a community or society in political life in many different ways. A great deal of what has been conceptually developed in relation to the term refers to the opposite of the idea of representation. Thus, participation is an activity associated with direct action in political life, in which the individual acts on their own – without the mediation of representatives or intermediaries – to influence decision-making in the political system or in private political organizations (Pasquino 2010). Beyond the difference in relation to mediated practices of political action, the term participation encompasses a great variety of actions in terms of form, impact on the political system, and interaction with other individuals.
