Föreningsengagemang och politiskt deltagande – en tvetydig historia : En studie av Högsby och Växjö kommunfullmäktige

Abstract The political parties in Sweden are losing members. This is seen as a problem because the political parties are the base and the recruiting ground for members to decision-making bodies. Social movements are seen as a place where people with a modest background could express their opinions and also learn the political process. These movements have also lost members during the last decades and this could seriously affect the representation of lower social groups among the decision-makers. This essay emanates from Robert D. Putnam’s theory of the importance of a strong civil society and social capital for democracy and a fair social representation in governing bodies. The goal with this essay was to examine if people with background in social-movements was over-represented in decision-making bodies and if their experiences from those organization had been important for them in their role in decision-making bodies. The conclusion was that there was no over-representation of people with background in social movements compared to Sweden in general. Experiences from earlier engagement in social movements seem to have been more important for the group with low socioeconomic status but this connection cannot be said to be general. Keywords: social capital, civil society, social movements, socioeconomic statu