Political Organisations and participation

This chapter introduces four core dimensions of contemporary research on political organizations and participation to argue that this is a vibrant area of research within the study of Australian politics. First, there has been a productive debate between traditional understandings of participation—underpinned by dutiful, government-centred norms— and research focused on the emergence of newer forms of participation characterized by individualization, project identities, and issue-based mobilizations. Together, these areas of research show how citizens’ involvement with politics has changed over time. Second, digital communication technologies have provided new avenues for political action and for research, compounding processes of individualization and personalization. Third, in pioneering research, Australian interest organizations have been found to play a central role in Australian political life, particularly as participation preferences shift to projectand issue-based advocacy. Finally, these intersecting processes of normative, technological, and organizational change are evident in the arrival of new hybrid campaigning organizations like GetUp.