The concept of modernization and the concept of social mobility
contained in it constitute the principal categories in
understanding the nature of populism. There are many theories of
modernization that foreground different impulses for development
and factors determining the pace, process and the final shape of
the process under discussion. The functional approach and the
evolutionary approach are among the most important ones. Social
participation is important element of democracy but perceived in
different way by suppoters of direct and indirect democracy.
Delegative democracy may be transformed into Robert Dahl's
poliarchy system. The process of social mobilization constitutes a
part of a big transformation, since it presents the mechanism of
rapid inclusion of large social groups in the new system of values.
This mechanism assumes the coexistence of modern and traditional
sectors. In populism the expansion of rights tends to occur as a
result of compromise within the framework of class alliances or
through a system of co-opting marginal groups to the system. Social
mobilization constitutes a complicated process combing the
disintegration of the existing structure of the system and the
final reintegration of the society.
Key words: democracy, delegative democracy, populism,
modernization, social mobilization, social participation