| Summary: | The project «New Forms of Political Participation in an Urban Context» has aimed at gaining insights into local citizenship and new forms of political participation within an urban context. Increasingly, Norwegian cities are socially and culturally heterogeneous. At he same time we witness evidence of a more fragmented government structure. The literature on governance is suitable for comprehending the increasing complexity witnessed in urban politics. In this perspective particular attention is given to policy networks. The renewed interest in informal local power structures coincides with changes in popular political participation. While participation through representative democracy is declining, direct democracy is strengthened. The project combines extensive and intensive research strategies in order to map the patterns of political behaviour in an urban context. Firstly, an inhabitant survey was conducted in three cities: Bergen, Oslo, and Tromsø. Secondly, through two casestudies in Bergen, we have tried to trace the formation and upholding of influential activist networks within the city. We observe that the informal types of political involvement produce a more socially biased participation than the formal types of involvement. Informal modes of participation require more individual resources from the participants. Simultaneously, when policymaking is less institutionalised and more networked, informal activist networks exert strong influence over policy outcomes, while average citizens lack the resources to participate actively or hold decision makers accountable. I dette prosjektet har oppmerksomheten vært rettet mot politisk deltakelse og ulike politiske uttrykksformer i en bykontekst. Empirisk har vi nærmet oss spørsmålet om byborgernes politiske deltakelse på to måter. For det første har vi gjennomført en spørreundersøkelse blant innbyggerne i tre norske storbyer: Bergen, Oslo og Tromsø. For det andre har vi gjennomført to case-studier av politisk mobilisering og deltakelsesmønster i to utvalgte ...
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