Participation Crisis Flashcards
(6 cards)
Theme 1- elections and referendums
FOR PC
TO has had a great deal less than average between 1945 and 1997 which was 76% to 59.9% in 2024
TO s even lower in so called ‘second order’ e;ections and referendums such as those from devolved bodies and councils.
E.g. TO in welsh senedd election was 46.6% in 2021
Low TO means the gov r elected on a reduced share of the popular vote, therefore calling the strength of their democratic mandate into question.
Polical apathy= lack of awareness or interest in polical issues that affect society e.g. amongst young people which limits representativeness of political institutions to the interests of young people.
Theme 1 however
2014 Scottish independence and EU referendum had TO of 84.6% and 72.2% respectively, showing that there is still sig engagement surrounding critical issues
Population is still very engaged on important polical issues on which they feel can have sig control, but vote less in elections as they distrust professional politicians especially after 2010 expense scandal and party get.
An alternative viewpoint is ‘hapathy’ suggesting that people r generally content and therefore don’t need to push for change.
Theme 2- party membership
For
The CP has 100,000 memebers today, an sig drop from an estimated 400,000 in mid 1990s.
Less trad political involvement could be associated w a negative perception of MPs, due to various scandals and promises being broken.
E.g. since warmer became LP leader, there has been a drop in PM in part due to the perception that his increasingly centrist policy betray the promises he made in the leadership elction.
The LP has fallen from 500,000 under Corbyn to 370,000 today
Theme 2- party membership
Against
There was a surge in LP membership when Milliband made it possible to join for just £3, w the party rising over 500,000 members.
In Feb 2025, farage claimed that reform has surpassed 200,000 members and therefore doubled the membership of the CP, whist not being far off the membership of th LP
Para 3- other forms of political participation
FOR
Other forms of political involvement are certainly important but r arguably less impactful and important than voting and PM.
E petitions and other forms of engaging in policies online r a form of slacktivism that fake little real effort and arent a replacement for trad forms of participation.
E.g. 2024 a petition to call an immediate GE received 2.9 mill sig, and will be debated in parliament in 2025, despite the fact that this is certainly not going to happen and make little real change.
Para 3- others methods of political participation
Against
Pressure group membership in the UK has been on the increase whilst many young people in particular actively engage w politics on social media.
Many demonstrations have been well attended on issues such as the Iraq war, Brexit BLM and CC.
This direct action has been recognised as a feature of modern politics, indicating that people feel conventional politics has le them down and r turning to new methods of expression
