This book provides insight into an ongoing debate among political scientists and sociologist: why is political participation in some nations distributed evenly across economic, social, and educational lines, whereas other nations foster participation only by their privileged classes?

1. Introduction; 2. Comparing participatory systems; 3. The modes of democratic participation; 4. The puzzle; 5. Individual propensities and institutional constraints: a model; 6. Parties and organisations; 7. Individual and institutional forces: the model applied; 8. Some variations on our model: parties of the left and right; 9. Social segmentation and political equality: expectations; 10. Social segmentation and political equality: application; 11. Party and participation in Yugoslavia; 12. Men and women: sex-related differences in political activity; 13. the community context of participation; 14. Stratification and politics: some consequences; Appendices.