Is There a Crisis of Political Participation?

Abstract

There appears to be a crisis of political participation in Britain. Turnout at the last UK general election was, at 58 per cent, lower than at any other general election since 1918. Moreover, voters have been reluctant to go to the polls in every other kind of election held over the last six years. Unsurprisingly, then, politicians of all political persuasions have been asking themselves how they can 're-engage' the public with the political process.This decline in electoral participation might seem particularly surprising given one of the key social changes to have occurred in Britain over the last two decades -the expansion of educational attainment. Education is supposedly a 'democratic good', meant to encourage adherence to democratic values, a sense of political competence and thus a greater propensity to vote (Almond and Verba, 1963;Wolfinger and Rosenstone, 1980). As Almond and Verba's study of The Civic Culture put it:The educated classes possess the keys to political participation and involvement while those with less education are less well equipped.As Table 5.1 shows, in the mid-1980s nearly half the adult British population had no educational qualifications. Now, less than a quarter are in this position. Over the same period, the proportion with a degree has more than doubled (to 16 per cent), while those with at least an A level or its equivalent now comprise well over two-fifths of the adult population (rather than just over a quarter as they did two decades ago). So Britain has experienced a substantial increase in overall levels of educational attainment, something we might expect to produce an increase in electoral participation. That the very opposite seems to have happened is nothing less than a 'puzzle of participation ' (Brody, 1978).

Community Participation in Spatial Planning: Exploring Relationships between Professional and Lay Stakeholders

“…In turn, the unequal participation in community activities is influenced by a range of socio-economic factors, particularly educational background but also economic status (Curtice andSyed, 2003, Parry et al, 1992). In this context, the most marginalised groups tend to be the working class and the young (Warde et al, 2003).…”

Citizenship

“…Despite considerable similarities, the prominence of social capital in the UK has not experienced the same decline as the USA (Johnston and Jowell, 2001;Hall, 2002, Curtice andSeyd, 2003;Pattie et al, 2004). Reasons include the significantly expanded access to higher education and government action supporting community involvement (Hall, 2002).…”

Fewer Costs, More Votes? United Kingdom Innovations in Election Administration 2000–2007 and the Effect on Voter Turnout

“…There has been much sympathy with Inglehart's (1990) thesis that a post-material culture is developing, with citizens now more interested in issues of identity and lifestyle. It is frequently suggested that there has been a decline and/or fragmentation of class politics and trade union membership (Curtice and Seyd, 2003). Citizen engagement has become increasingly issue-led rather than ideologically driven.…”