This course is an introduction to political participation in its conventional and unconventional forms. The course will take various perspectives on political modernization and the role attributed to different forms of participation or the lack thereof as its starting point. Mass elections and mass political violence will be discussed more in depth from the competing perspectives of modernization and rational choice literatures. Influential texts from the relevant literature will be used to guide the discussion towards a critique of the pioneering works and towards an evaluation of the current debates in the literature.