Jan W. van Deth is Professor of Political Science and International Comparative Social Research at the University of Mannheim, Germany.William A. Maloney is Professor of Politics and Head of Politics in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University, UK.

• 1. Introduction: Democracy, Professionalization and Participation Jan W. van Deth and William A. Maloney Part 1: Professionalization and Democratic Politics 2. How to Domesticate Civil Society by Public-Private Partnerships: Evidence from German Local Health Policy Matthias Freise 3. Entrepreneurial Participation in International Local Politics: The Case of Marseille, European Capital of Culture for 2013 Nicolas Maisetti 4. New Issues, New Forms of Action? Climate Change and Environmental Activism in Britain Christopher Rootes 5. The Professionalization of EU’s Civil Society: A Conceptual Framework Sabine Saurugger 6. The Democratic Contribution of Professionalized Representation William A. Maloney 7. Professionalized Supply-Side Mobilization: Are Financial Contributors ‘Meaningful Participants’? Grant Jordan Part 2: Changing Democratic Engagement 8. New Modes of Participation and Norms of Citizenship Jan W. van Deth 9. A Remedy for Unequal Participation? How Welfare States Impact on Social and Political Engagement Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen 10. Peripheral Participants: The Activation of the Politically Less Engaged in Advanced Democracies Eline A. de Rooij 11. Surrogates for the Underrepresented? Ideology and Participatory Inequality in Personal and Professional Political Action Tom W.G. van der Meer 12. The Stability of Individualized Collective Action: Results of a Panel Study among Belgian Late Adolescents Ellen Quintelier and Marc Hooghe 13. Youth Participation from the Top-Down: The Perspectives of Government and Community Sector Decision-Makers in Australia Ariadne Vromen 14. Conclusions: How Democratic is Professionalized and Individualized Political Action? Jan W. van Deth and William A. Maloney