Abstract

The paper examines some examples of popular participation in Scandinavian countries. Among the different «tools of democracy», consultation of interest groups during the lawmaking process, as well as participative/deliberative democracy in local decision-making process are gained increasing popularity. They are increasingly being used to address problematic and complex issues that affect the citizenship rights. The recent cases of Danish municipality of Gentofte and the Norwegian municipality of Svelvik of will be finally discussed.