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ETVT the UK is suffering from a participation crisis - Coggle Diagram
ETVT the UK is suffering from a participation crisis
Participation crisis
- the refusal of a significant number of citizens to engage in political activities, either through traditional or non-traditional forms of participation.
Voting
When it comes to voting, we measure participation by turnout, which is defined as the percentage of people who are eligible to vote and who decide to do so.
There is evidence to suggest a participation crisis- in the 2019 General Election- turnout was 67.3%, which was down 1.5% from the last election.
This is also a far cry from the levels of the 1970s, where it reached 78.4% in 1974.
Turnout can also be based on wealth and occupation. In the 2019 GE, 68% of high-income A/B voters cast a ballot, whereas only 53% of low-income DE voters cast a ballot.
Furthermore, due to the flaws of First-Past-The-Post, those in safe seats essentially waste their time voting, so many people do not bother turning up.
As a Representative Democracy, it is essential that turnout is high, to give the resulting government a strong mandate to carry out their policies.
Even in the new devolved institutions, turnout remains low, despite alternative voting systems.
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London mayoral election turnout in 2021: 41%, down 4% from 2016
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Welsh Senedd elections 2021: 47%
Perhaps these turnout stats show that voters do not feel as though these bodies make a huge difference to their lives, rather the real action lies in Westminster.
Crisis, what crisis?
However, between 2001 to 2017 general election turnout did steadily increase, it only fell in 2019 owing to the time of the year in which the election took place- winter.
Many would argue that the crisis is not an unwillingness to participate in politics, but rather a failure of the electoral system. If it was fairer, maybe they would vote in higher numbers.
For those living in 'safe seats', it can arguably make more sense to abstain and participate in other ways.
Furthermore, non-voters still generally recognise the government's legitimacy, even if they believe the election, and political parties, to be deeply flawed. Therefore, this doesn't constitute a crisis.
Referendums do provide the opportunity for greater turnout, where the electorate feels their voice is heard more through direct democracy
The Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014 saw an 85% turnout.
The EU Referendum saw a turnout of 72%.
People engage in politics more when a) the stakes are high, b) the results are close (e.g. 2015 and 2017), and c) there is an underlying sense of grievance with the party in power or system, along with an alternative that appears to be radically different.
Turnout in devolved body elections is only low because these elections are not as important to people as general elections- this doesn't constitute a crisis- it just means these bodies aren't powerful enough to make people feel bothered enough to vote. Perhaps giving them more power is the answer?
Membership to political parties
There is strong evidence to suggest a crisis here
Only around 1.5% of the population are members of a political party.
There has been considerable partisan dealignment in recent decades, with far fewer voters strongly identifying with a particular party, loyally supporting them from election to election.
Labour's membership stood at 432,000 in 2021, a sharp decline from the 1 million members it had in 1953.
The Tories had only 172,000 members in 2022, compared to 2.8 million in 1953.
Yet, Other parties have also seen rises in their membership, such as the SNP.
The membership declines of major political parties does not indicate a participation crisis, but rather the growth of class and partisan dealignment- voters are loess loyal to one party.
This doesn't mean they are apathetic, they just don't like what the two major parties offer.
Joining Trade Unions and Taking industrial actions
Trade Unions are organisations who defend the rights, pay, terms and conditions of their members- usually represent employees in a specific occupation.
There is evidence to suggest a crisis:
The number of employees in the UK who were trade union members was 6.25 million in 2022, well down from its 1979 peak of 13.2 million.
(A02- can be ascribed to people working from home and the changing nature of work)
Divisions within unions: In 2016, junior doctors rejected the new contract that their leaders had negotiated with the government.
Wave after wave of public sector strikes in 2022-2023 did not produce the above-inflation pay that unions had been demanding.
The Trade Union Act 2016 makes striking difficult, which limits the impact that unions have, and consequently, the perception that joining a trade union is beneficial. The Conservatives passed a minimum service level legislation in 2023, which further limited striking by requiring minimum service levels in key sectors of the economy during strikes.
HOWEVER,
This decline in trade union membership primarily occurred in the private sector- Since 1995, membership among public sector employees has stayed relatively consistent, around 50% of public sector employees belong to a trade union.
Some unions have very active members. Sixth Form teachers belonging to the NEU went on strike on three separate occasions in the Autumn 2019-20 term and participated in multiple days of industrial action in the 2022-23 academic year.
Nearly every junior doctor who participated in the ballot on industrial action voted to strike in 2023, with a turnout of 77%.
The increasing ease with which to join a march or demo due to social media, has perhaps replaced the role of a strike as the main form of direct demo.
NON-TRADITIONAL METHODS
E-petitions
I MEAN, they're okay
Pressure Group activity
There is strong evidence there is a crisis
How involved are people who join pressure groups?
Many members are just "cheque-book members"- only pay membership fees to pressure groups and do not participate.
Even if people did wish to become actively involved in the pressure groups they join, the power in many pressure groups is top-down, controlled by unelected leaders, rather than democratically by their members.
People are put off by pressure groups because they cause mass disturbances. Just Stop Oil interrupted a high-profile snooker game, glued themselves to goalposts at premier league matches etc etc
The government has also made it harder to protest with its Policing Act 2022 which banned noisy protests and the Public Order Act 2023 which gives the police sweeping powers to prevent people from attending demonstrations
HOWEVER
The fact that so much direct action has been carried out in the last 2 years is a testament to the fact people are participating.
The Anti-Brexit demonstrations were attended by at least 1 million people.
Fair Funding for Schools was enormously effective at engaging teachers, head teachers and parents in campaigning against education cuts, by pointing out the specific cuts that individual schools will face.
In 2022, renters rights group, Acorn organised demonstrations at Bristol City Hall to protest against high rents. Similar protests by tenants have put pressure on the government to ban no-fault evictions in its latest housing bill.
Use of social media
Arguably, social media is merely an echo-chamber for it users, it only circulates the ideas that have already been supported by individuals alike.
The kinds of participation we see on social media, particularly sites like twitter, can be potentially harmful forms of participation (hate speech) and may well put people off engaging in political discussion and debate.
According to one forecast in 2022, more than 30 million people will leave Twitter within the next two years, owing to Elon Musk's takeover and his removal of safeguards that have seen the proliferation of hate speech and harmful content.
CONCLUSION
Trust in politics has severely declined following the Expenses Scandal, has this made people more apathetic or angry, I think angry enough to participate!
It is too simple to just look at voting, the social media explosion represents greater participation, even if the quality is questionable.
Referendums have seemingly exploded people's interest in politics.
There is a crisis in some forms of political participation, e.g. political parties, and perhaps no crisis in others.
The extent to which there is a crisis perhaps depends to the value attache to different forms of participation.