7 Positive Change and Political Participation: Well-Being as an Indicator of the Quality of Citizens’ Engagement

Abstract

Political participation has long been considered as a source of benefits for the community. Its role in the evolution of society has been assessed through diverse social indicators, from which well-being has been assigned a central position. In this chapter we look at the historical progress of such indicators, highlighting the contribution of psychology. We suggest that a eudaimonic perspective can explain the link between individuals' well-being and participation. In particular flow can be used as referential theory to describe mechanisms affecting both personal growth and social context, resulting in an inspiring notion to design participative settings.Keywords: Well-Being; Citizen Participation; Quality of Life; Flow of Consciousness; Quality of Participation; Social Indicators; Eudaimonia; Subjective Well-Being Envisioning Better Societies: Concepts and Measures for a Positive ChangePolitical participation is often seen as a main goal for modern democracies, in consideration of its positive relation with diverse dimensions of our lives such as wealth, health or education (Field, 2003;Halpern, 2005). Hence the decline faced by traditional forms of participation (e.g. Gray & Caul, 2000) has been considered as a warning sign for the future development of our societies. Yet the role of political participation in creating a positive change is not so straightforward, and we need awareness regarding the quality of participation as well as the quantity. In this chapter we consider how well-being, among other social indicators, has been used to inform society at large about the direction of its progress. Indeed, different conceptions of well-being will highlight different qualities of participation. To this end, the evolution of positive psychology is looked upon as resulting from a long multidisciplinary path devoted to exploring the notion of well-being within societies, while featuring connections with some major social changes. We aim to emphasize the contribution of the eudaimonic perspective, suggesting how flow of consciousness can be fruitfully integrated to understand participatory behaviors.

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