Standby citizens or irrational couch potatoes? : A study of what characterizes French people who participate in demonstrations while abstaining from voting

Abstract: Recent research shows a global trend of declining voter turnout and increasing levels of elite-challenging political action. In France, elite-challenging political action, such as participating in demonstrations, is especially prominent. In addition, the voter turnout in France has been recently declining. The French case is interesting in this regard, as the voter turnout is lower than the European average while participation in demonstrations is more common than in other European countries. What characterizes people who abstain from voting but nevertheless participate in demonstrations?  This study shows that the factors that characterize non-voting demonstrators are self-expression values, internal efficacy as well as dissatisfaction with the government. In addition, the group of non-voting demonstrators tend to differ compared to the group of voting demonstrators regarding external efficacy, net income level and gender. However, explanations of elite-challenging political action seem to be able to explain demonstration behavior better among voters than non-voters. This shows that the contemporary research field of political participation needs to advance. Understanding why people abstain from voting while engaging in demonstrations is important from several perspectives: it can help us understand how contemporary old democracies can become more stable and in congruence with the current democratic culture, which thereby would make them more stable; it can help us understand what characterizes critical citizens who participate in our democracy; and finally, it can help us understand how traditional forms of political participation, such as voting, are no longer the only ways for people to participate in politics.