ii) Participation Crisis

Question 1

What is a participation crisis?

Answer 1

A situation where a large proportion of the population do not engage with politics eg. don’t vote

Question 2

Evidence FOR participation crisis - para 1

Answer 2

• Turnout in general elections has fallen since peak in 1950s (84%) with record low of 59% in 2001
• Turnout is poor among young, poor, and non-white ethnic backgrounds and could be linked to disillusionment with politics
• Party membership has fallen eg. conservative party currently has 150,000 members compared to 3 million in 1950s

Question 3

Evidence AGAINST participation crisis - para 1

Answer 3

• Turnout can be good eg. in 2014 referendum at 85%
• Labour party has seen an increase in party membership since Corbyn and Momentum
• Scottish Independence gave over 16s the vote

Question 4

Evidence FOR participation crisis - para 2

Answer 4

• Informal doesn’t have same value as formal methods of participation
• Problem of the “echo chamber” – emotional reactions
• People using informal participation are not very representative of wider society

Question 5

Evidence AGAINST participation crisis - para 2

Answer 5

• E petitions eg. over 500,000 signing petitions to ban ISIS members returning to UK
• “clicktivism” eg. likes, retweets etc
• Suing social media platforms to engage with politicians
• Blogging
• Target the young – enhances participation

Question 6

Evidence FOR participation crisis - para 3

Answer 6

• Protests can be violent and cause disruption eg XR
• Spread misinformation
• Often have little impact

Question 7

Evidence AGAINST participation crisis - para 3

Answer 7

• Protests and boycotts can be successful eg. BLM and ‘boycott Boohoo’
• Number of pressure groups and the amount of members has risen which suggests a shift in participation