Participation Crisis

Question 1

define participation crisis

Answer 1

a participation crisis refers to a lack of engagement with the political system by a significant section of society

Question 2

arguments to suggest that the UK does not have a participation crisis

Answer 2

voter turnout is gradually beginning to rise

the membership of smaller parties is growing

alternative forms of participation are increasingly being used

Question 3

arguments to suggest that the UK does have a participation crisis

Answer 3

voter turnout is still rather low

the major parties have seen a decline in membership

while other forms of participation may be rising, this may not be sufficient enough to make up for the lack of traditional engagement in the political system

Question 4

overall conclusion

Answer 4

participation may not be optimal but it is not yet low enough to be considered a ‘crisis’ and is showing signs of healthy improvement

therefore, the UK does not appear to be in the midst of a participation crisis

Question 5

what is the most significant indication of a participation crisis? why?

Answer 5

the most significant indication of a participation crisis is voter turnout, as voting in elections is the most traditional way of engaging with the political system

Question 6

what does falling turnout indicate?

Answer 6

falling turnout indicates an obvious lack of participation and engagement in politics

and in recent years, general elections in the UK has been victim to this, which suggests that the UK is in the midst of a participation crisis

Question 7

what was the average turnout between 1945 and 1997? how has this fallen?

Answer 7

the average turnout between 1945 and 1997 was 76%, but since then it has fallen considerably

in 2001, it was less than 60% - the lowest turnout since the end of WW1 in 1918.

Question 8

turnout being even lower in ‘second order’ elections such as local council elections and those for devolved bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

why?

Answer 8

the average turnout in the May 2016 local council elections in England was only around 33%

possibly because people do not feel as if these bodies are able to make any real changes so feel less motivated to cast a vote and have their say

Question 9

turnout in 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner elections

Answer 9

only 15% of people voted in the 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner elections

Question 10

turnout in European Parliament elections

Answer 10

in European elections, the average UK turnout is 35% whereas the average turnout for EU countries in European elections stands at 42%

Question 11

where is low turnout particularly evident?

Answer 11

this lack of participation is particularly evident in young people, as average turnout for the 18-24 year old age group is especially low

according to YouGov, turnout in this age group was only 57% in 2017, compared to 77% for over 65s

Question 12

where is the UK ranked in terms of turnout? why is this worrying?

Answer 12

due to all of these factors, the UK is ranked 76th in the world in terms of voter turnout

which is rather worrying considering that the UK is supposedly one of the leading democracies in the world yet its voter turnout suggests that citizens do not truly engage in the democratic system and indicates that the UK may be in the midst of a participation crisis.

Question 13

how is voter turnout showing signs of improvement?

Answer 13

voter turnout is actually showing signs of gradual improvement

although voter turnout at elections was only 60% in 2001, it has been rising modestly since then and shows no signs of reversing

by 2010, turnout had risen to 65% and by 2017, this had increased yet again to 68%

these may only be small improvements but they do seem to demonstrate growing participation

Question 14

what is the turnout for referendums?

Answer 14

turnout in referendums tends to be high

for example, participation in the 2016 EU referendum was 72%, which equates to 32 million out of a possible 46 million who are eligible to vote

in particular, turnout among 18-24 year olds was 64%, which is much closer to the population average

Question 15

why is turnout high in referendums?

Answer 15

when the referendum outcome largely affects the future of many individuals, many take an interest and vote in order to have their say

Question 16

how is party membership declining? how many people belong to one of the three main parties?

Answer 16

party membership is also declining within the UK, pointing to a participation crisis

only 1.6% of the electorate now belong to one of the three main UK parties, which fell from 3.8% in the 1980s

Question 17

how has Conservative Party membership dropped?

Answer 17

in particular, the Conservative Party have seen a rapid drop in membership within this period, from having 400,000 members in the mid-1990s to only around 150,000 by 2016

Question 18

where is party membership particularly low?

Answer 18

party membership is also notably lower among young people, with the average age of a Conservative Party member being 72 and the average age of a Labour Party member being just under 51

Question 19

why are many young people not members of political parties?

Answer 19

people (especially young people) may feel unrepresented by the range of parties available, so are disengaged and apathetic towards politics, which could explain the apparent lack of engagement

Question 20

why might falling party membership not be important?

Answer 20

this might not be so important due to partisan dealignment, in which people do not vote or stay loyal to the same party at every election

consequently, just because party membership is falling does not mean that there is a participation crisis as people are unlikely to sign up to become a member if they are not loyal to that party

Question 21

how is the membership of Labour rising?

Answer 21

Conservative Party membership may have fallen but the same is not true for the other parties

Labour witnessed a huge rise in membership, following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader, from 190,000 when Labour was last in government to 515,000 in 2016 – known as the Corbyn effect

Question 22

rising membership of the Liberal Democrats

Answer 22

membership of the Liberal Democrats also increased from 49,000 during the 2010-15 coalition to over 82,000 by 2017

Question 23

rising membership of smaller parties

Answer 23

most importantly, there has been a profound increase in the membership of smaller parties

this can be seen in the SNP, who in 2013 only had a membership of 25,000, but in 2016 this rose to 120,000

likewise, the Green Party only had 13,000 members in 2013, but by 2016 this had risen to 55,000

Question 24

what does the rising of party membership indicate?

Answer 24

this demonstrates a rising membership and shows that not every party has seen a drop in membership

while membership has fluctuated, the overall trend seems to be towards growth which outweighs the counter-arguments and suggests that the UK is not in the midst of a participation crisis

Question 25

what are other ways that people are getting involved in politics?

Answer 25

besides voting and being a member of a party, there are other ways that people are still getting involved in politics

not only is pressure group membership is increasing, but there is also an increased use of social media

people are finding other ways to express their opinions, which may be because they feel that traditional politics has let them down

it may be positive that new forms of political participation are emerging as the possibilities for political engagement are more widespread and accessible than ever before, allowing people who are not yet old enough to vote to get involved too

Question 26

how has involvement with pressure groups increased?

Answer 26

pressure group membership has increased, with 1 in 10 UK adults being a member of an environmental pressure group

there has also been an increase in large-scale protest and organised strikes

this can be seen in the recent student walk out pressuring the government to take more action on climate change as well as the Extinction Rebellion protests and demonstrations taking place in London currently

Question 27

what has social media enabled people to do?

Answer 27

social media has also enabled people, especially the young, to exchange political views, participate in online campaigns and generally get more informed

e-petitions have been seen millions of signatures gathered for issues that the public feel are important

for example, 4.1 million signatures were gathered for a petition calling for any vote on the membership of the EU to require at least 60% of the vote and at least 75% turnout

Question 28

what is the problem with alternative forms of political participation?

Answer 28

it is still concerning that so many are uninvolved in traditional politics and while other forms of participation may be rising, this may not be sufficient enough to make up for the lack of traditional engagement in the political system – indicating a participation crisis

Question 29

what is armchair participation?

Answer 29

arguably, a lot of the involvement in such alternative forms of participation may merely be ‘armchair participation’ in which people join but do not actually get involved

participating in something like an e-petition is much easier than going out to vote as there is no need to leave the house and it is a much simpler process as the person only needs to click a button

as a result, e-petition participation may not be as valid as genuine participation in elections and can be argued to show less of an engagement in the political system seeing as people do not have to take much initiative