Civic participation in Paweł Starosta’s research

Abstract

Research on the condition of democracy in post-socialist countries focuses primarily on issues of civic participation. This article, which provides an analytical overview, presents civic participation in light of the achievements of Professor Paweł Starosta. The text has the character of an analytical overview study. Particular attention is focused on the social context, the aims and directions of the research, the definition and determinants of public participation, and the main results of the observations made by Starosta. Starosta’s contribution, visible in the analysed works, extends the perception of public participation beyond the behavioural dimension and constructs theoretical concepts to explain political involvement based on the criterion of subjectivity. It also distinguishes ideal types of political involvement at the local level. In conclusion, Starosta’s research has considerable application potential in the context of the methods used to measure and explain participation at the local level. The comparative value may be particularly useful for researchers of local systems, especially rural systems (rural studies), who come from various scientific disciplines, including political sociology, rural or urban sociology, and socio-political geography.