Real political participation requires eliminating economic inequality as a cause of unequal political access.

Evidence

Participation could only go beyond being a mere value in itself if democracy was seen as a historical process aimed at creating a society of responsible citizens and transforming social power into rational authority. Political participation therefore ran parallel to contributing to the creation of conditions in which all citizens did in fact participate, and in which the general regulation of the reproduction of social existence excluded economic inequality as a source of unequal opportunities to participate in politics. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2342

Habermas thus succeeded in producing a sophisticated concept of political participation. Participation could only go beyond being a mere value in itself if democracy was seen as a historical process aimed at creating a society of responsible citizens and transforming social power into rational authority. Political participation therefore ran parallel to contributing to the creation of conditions in which all citizens did in fact participate, and in which the general regulation of the reproduction of social existence excluded economic inequality as a source of unequal opportunities to participate in politics. This was the standard by which students’ participation in politics was to be measured. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 578

Categorization

• XREF: This is an early formulation of what becomes Habermas’s discourse-ethics conception of participation — connects to the reader’s knowledge of his later legitimation crisis and communicative action work. — connects to: Escaping inequality requires political contestation, not moral or legal transcendence — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 457; Formal political equality masks deep economic servitude that hollows out democracy — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 406; Growing inequality undermines the public sphere until the political system crumbles from within. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 104 (+5 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2342; Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 578

Broader Connections

• Political freedom is impossible without economic freedom #corroborates (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 407
• Real democracy requires economic agency that most people lack #corroborates (0.88) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 361
• Formal political equality masks deep economic servitude that hollows out democracy #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 406
• Economic dependence on wage labor hollows out political citizenship. #corroborates (0.82) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 406
• Escaping inequality requires political contestation, not moral or legal transcendence #qualifies (0.78) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 457
• Growing inequality undermines the public sphere until the political system crumbles from within. #corroborates (0.75) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 104
• Economic problems are political problems about how social power is distributed #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 38