Excluded Citizens: The Politics of Disability Participation, Advocacy, and Policy

Although 1 in 5 people across societies are disabled, they remain a highly marginalised group in society and politics, as well as in political science research. People with disabilities are a very diverse group, yet many of them share experiences of exclusion from democratic citizenship, access to political life, and political power due to ableist institutions and policies. The papers in this panel draw from a diverse range of theoretical traditions and empirical approaches – including interviews, social network analysis, and survey experiments – to examine the sources and dynamics of barriers to societal integration and to political inclusion and representation of disabled people in different societal and political contexts. The papers address different stages of political life – from the foundations of democratic citizenship and basic rights to political participation, to engagement in political parties as well as advocacy groups, to standing for election to parliament – and examine different impairment types and disability communities. They seek to understand how policies limit inclusion and access at different stages of the democratic process, and which rationales and processes shape these policies. By bringing together a diverse set of perspectives and scholars, the panel aims to advance our knowledge and challenge our thinking about the ways in which disabled people participate in politics and are prevented from doing so, and how politics and policy, in turn, shape the lives of disabled people.