Participation Crisis

Question 1

What is partisan dealignment?

Answer 1

Where voters no longer strongly identify with a party, and their support changes between parties from election to election

Question 2

Give a pro of using referendums and initiatives to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 2

Higher turnout, interest in politics, and knowledge of politics
Avoids broken promises from the government. Gives electorate greater influence over legislation.

Question 3

Give a con of using referendums and initiatives to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 3

Existing low turnout for UK referendums. Populist policies and the tyranny of the majority.
Dominance of wealthy special interests.

Question 4

Give a pro of using recall elections to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 4

Public has more power to hold representatives accountable

Question 5

Give a con of using recall elections to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 5

Tyranny of minority.
Recalls could be used as protest against the government

Question 6

What is a recall election?

Answer 6

Where voters sign a petition calling for a vote to remove an elected official ahead of the next election.

Question 7

What is a primary election?

Answer 7

An election held by a political party to choose a candidate for an upcoming election

Question 8

What’s the difference between an open and closed primary election?

Answer 8

Open - open to all voters on the constituency
Closed - restricted to party members only

Question 9

Give a con of using primary elections to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 9

Low turnout could leave the decision to small numbers of unrepresentative voters.
There is no guarantee that voters would pick more diverse candidates than party leaders.

Question 10

Give an example of a pro of lowering the voting age to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 10

1969 - voting age lowered from 21 to 18.
Ed Miliband, former Labour leader, announced his support for lowering the voting age at the party’s 2013 annual conference.

Question 11

Give a con of lowering the voting age to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 11

Many 16-year-olds don’t pay taxes, and have fewer responsibilities than adults.
Maturity/ education
Youth turnout already very low, so reducing the age would lead to a lower % turnout.

Question 12

Give a pro of using compulsory voting to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 12

Many nations issue fines to those who do not vote (eg. Australian Federal Election 2013… non-voting fine set at $170
Higher turnout -> greater legitimacy for winners.
Supporters argue that voting is a civic duty, much like jury duty.

Question 13

Give a con of using compulsory voting to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 13

People have the right to decide whether to participate or not.

Uninformed and uninterested people might randomly vote

Donkey vote - where voters number candidates based on the order they appear on the ballot

Question 14

Give a pro of using digital democracy to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 14

Modern technology can inform and educate the public, increasing political participation.

Question 15

Give a con of using digital democracy to improve the participation crisis:

Answer 15

The ‘digital divide’ - those with and without computers and internet access.
Is online voting secure?
Would it keep the same anonymity and privacy as secret booths?

Question 16

Give 5 suggested reforms for the participation crisis:

Answer 16

Referendums and initiatives
Recall elections
Primary elections
Lower voting age
Compulsory voting
Digital democracy

Question 17

GIVE 2 FOR COMPULSORY VOTING

Answer 17

Greater Legitimacy -> more votes

Increased Participation -> increased turnout votes

Civic Duty -> act as full citizens, as members of a political community

Stronger social justice -> volunteer voting disadvantages the most vulnerable in society

Question 18

GIVE 2 AGAINST COMPULSORY VOTING

Answer 18

Worthless votes -> Uneducated voters affecting results

Distorted political justice -> distorts strategy adopted by political parties

Cosmetic democracy -> addresses symptom not cause. Higher turnout but the civic engagement decline is not addressed.

Abuse of freedom -> violation of individual freedom.

Question 19

GIVE 2 FOR LOWERING THE VOTING AGE

Answer 19

Responsibilities without rights -> minimum age for various activities is lower than 18

Youth Interests Ignored -> lack of political representation for young people

Stronger political engagement -> would re-engage young voters. Increase civic engagement.

Irrational cut-off age -> current voting age ignores steady intellectual and educational development from 16 to 17

Question 20

GIVE 2 AGAINST LOWERING THE VOTING AGE

Answer 20

Immature voters -> not full citizens with incomplete development.

Preserving ‘childhood’ -> forcing responsibilities and choices on young people.

Deferred representation -> 18-year-olds are broadly in touch with 16s and 17s, moreover.

Undermining turnout -> lowering voting age means lower turnout

Question 21

GIVE 2 FOR USING DIGITAL DEMOCRACY:

Answer 21

Easier participation -> citizens can express their views without leaving their home

Access to Information -> massively enlarged citizen access to information, meaning a truly free exchange of ideas and views.

Ease of organisation -> cheaper and easier to organise ‘virtual’ referendums, and so can be held much more frequently

Power to the people -> supported development of political and social movements, helping to shift power from government to private citizens.

Question 22

GIVE 2 AGAINST USING DIGITAL DEMOCRACY:

Answer 22

Electoral malpractice -> weaker scrutiny and control of the process. People’s identities can’t be so effectively checked. The process of voting can’t be properly ‘policied’.

‘Virtual’ democracy -> erodes the ‘public’ dimension of political participation, reducing democratic citizenship, demeaning politics.

Digital Divide - Access to ‘new’ information and communication technology isn’t universal. Gives rise to new patterns of political inequality.

Anti-democratic forces -> Internet has been used for the spread of political extremism and racial and religious intolerance.

Question 23

How has UK turnout in general elections changed in recent decades?

Answer 23

Significant variation - highs of 80%s and lows of under 60%.
Turnout gradually declining since WW2, but increased the last 3 elections

Question 24

Why is turnout important in a representative democracy?

Answer 24

Low turnout threatens government legitimacy.. broad participation is vital for the government to be seen as legitimate (the right to hold power).
We need more electoral participation.
If too few people vote, some may question the government’s mandate, their right to peruse manifesto policies, as they can’t claim they’re acting on he wishes of the majority of citizens.

Question 25

What is differential turnout?

Answer 25

Differential turnout refers to the varying levels of turnout across the country.

Question 26

Why are average turnout figures so misleading?

Answer 26

Don’t show variations across a country (age, class, ethnicity etc.)

They raise questions whether the government is incentivised to ignore some social groups that don’t vote and won’t hold them accountable, and to pander to the groups that do.

Question 27

What evidence is there of partisan dealignment in the UK?

Answer 27

Referendum turnouts are often low.

Until recently, number of people joking political parties has been consistently falling for decades. While recent years has seen a growth in party membership, it’s only a fraction of what it was after WW2.

Question 28

What is meant by ‘apathy’ and ‘hapathy’?
Why might they affect turnout levels?

Answer 28

Apathy - are people not voting because they aren’t interested in politics?

Hapathy - Are people not motivated to vote because they are largely content?

OR are people too busy/ too little choice/ anti-politics/ = there’s been an increase in polls that say people no longer trust politicians

Question 29

What was the power inquiry?

Answer 29

Established in 2004 to explore how political participation and involvement can be increased and deepened in Britain

Question 30

What is e-democracy?

Answer 30

New opportunities for participation made possible by the internet.

Question 31

Give two examples of e-democracy in the UK:

Answer 31

Government launched its own e-petitions website in 2011, which has proven extremely popular.

38 degrees = online community organising space where individuals raise political issues they are concerned about

Social media

Question 32

What does the 2015 Audit of Political Participation suggest about the health of representative democracy in the UK?

Answer 32

Those who ‘strongly disagree’ that political involvement can change the way the UK is run (18%)

Felt they had no influence over national decision-making (47%)

Didn’t want to be involved at all in local decision-making (32%)

Never discussed politics (30%)

Haven’t done any form of online political activity in the past year (53%)

When asked what they’d hypothetically be prepared to do if they felt strongly about an issue, the most the majority would do was vote.