Research on democratic innovations has been criticised for overlooking the deep structural changes required for inclusive, embedded and transformative citizen participation. In this paper, we respond to this gap by developing a political economy analysis of the embedding of the field of participation, investigating the socioeconomic realities that shape democratic innovation, as well as how participation shapes socioeconomic realities for participants and beyond. To do this, we analyse material and discursive trends across 10 European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, United Kingdom and Ireland).
Drawing on field and assemblage theories, and using a critical political economy approach, we study the field of participation as a unique social space, with its particular practices, actors, relations and symbolic capital, which influences, and is influenced by, other social fields. This approach takes a broad perspective on democratic innovation and the actors and relations that comprise the field, going beyond participation professionals to include public administrators, community organisers, activists, researchers, and boundary spanners. It does not limit the scope of participation by method or approach. This allows us to acknowledge the diversity of contexts in which democratic innovations develop, are implemented, and evolve. We develop our empirical investigation through insights from 50 interviews with key informants from across the field of participation in Europe. We examine levels of professionalisation, marketisation and institutionalisation to understand how socio-economic and political forces shape the actors, practices and norms of participation. This research thus provides foundations to understand, scrutinise and advance the political economy of the field at a critical juncture for democracy across European countries.
