A model of democracy in which citizens take part directly and continuously in decisions that affect them — in local government, workplaces and other institutions — rather than only choosing representatives; associated especially with Carole Pateman.
In more detail
Pateman's Participation and Democratic Theory (1970), drawing on Rousseau, Mill and G. D. H. Cole, argued that participation has an educative effect and that democratising authority structures such as the workplace is needed for a democratic society. In later work she distinguished participatory democracy, which changes the structure of authority, from consultative deliberative mini-publics, and cited Porto Alegre's participatory budget as a closer example. Critics cite costs in time, unequal participation and difficulties of scale.