Causes of the Decline in Voter Turnout

Causes of the Decline in Voter TurnoutWhat explains the fall in elector semi in nigh democracies in thelast few decades? In your answer, consider one or two explanations that youconsider closely important and empirical evidence load-bearing(a) or rejecting them.According to Dalton (1988) citizen involvement in the political process is essential for democracy to be viable and meaningful. They suggest that limited political involvement is a sign of weakness be clear it is only through dialogue and participation that societal goals are defined and achieved in a democracy. Voting, though it requires little initiative and cooperation with differents, is the most visible and widespread form of citizen involvement1. Over the past three decades, voter turnout in the UK and other democratic countries has decreased significantly, I entrust talk over what I consider to be two of the most important explanations for the decline in voter turnout across various democratic countries. These world political disengagement and dissatisf work on and the reduction in the value of right to vote. I halt chosen these due to the f propel in that location is significant empirical evidence supporting both explanations, as will be explored below. The low gear part of this essay will explain some statistics regarding the levels of voter turnout, following this, I will discuss the idea that political disengagement and dissatisfaction could be considered one of the most significant contributors to the decline in voter turnout and how the depleting value of the vote can cause people to refrain from voting altogether. Ademocratic country is defined as being a country in which all eligiblecitizens amaze the right to participate in the political system, either directlyor indirectly when it comes to making the decisions that will affect them2. Thedecline in voter turnout end-to-end democratic countries in the last few decadesis fast becoming a problem due to the fact democracy depen ds on voterparticipation. The decline in voter turnout can be noned in the UK where voterturnout reduced from 75.3% in 1987 to 68.7% in 2017, suffering substantial dips passim this period, as was found in 2001 in which voter turnout dropped to59.4%. Figure 1. A line graph establishing the decline in general option turnout since 1945. Taken from Ukpolitical.info. Voter turnout at UK general elections 1945 2017 UK political Info. online Available at http//www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout45.htm. The same thing can be seen in otherdemocratic countries. For example, voter turnout in the US during Mid-TermElections has decreased from 60.89% of registered voters voting and 41.07% ofvoting age voters voting in 1986 to 54.16% of registered voters voting and39.51% of voting age voters voting in 2014. The same cannot be said forPresidential elections, where we see an increase from 76.98%/56.28% voting in1988 and 78.76%/60.52% voting in 2016. However, the most recent statistics doshow a declin e from 2004 onwards. One possible explanation for this could bethe voters feel as though a Presidential election is more(prenominal) important, it gainsmore media reportage and affects the whole country. Therefore, it would beuseful to consider some of the reasons for this selective decline in voterturnout.Figure 2 Levels of voter turnout in US midterm elections from 1982 to 2014. Taken from Sos.wa.gov. online Available at https//www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx Figure 3 Levels of voter turnout in US presidential elections from 1980 to 2016. Taken from Sos.wa.gov. online Available at https//www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx. The firstof my proposed explanations for the decline in voter turnout is the publics politicaldisengagement and dissatisfaction. Before I continue, it is important todistinguish between voter unconcern and voter alienation in order to determinewhether there is a decline in voter turnout due to an increased lazinessthroughout t he public or due to the public popular opinion as though they can no longerrelate to their politicians, my first point of discussion focusses on thelatter. Crewe et al (1992) suggested that apathy indicates a lack personalresponsibility, a passivity, andindifference for political affairs. It denotes the absence of a feeling ofpersonal obligation to participate. However, voter alienation implies an active rejection of the political system. Thealienation the public are feeling when it comes to politics was found by Dr. Ruth Foxto stem from the fact that the parties we have to choose from are all thesame, the politicians are all the same, they are not like us3. Thiscould mean that the public can no longer order with the candidates they arevoting for. Politicians have become so detachedfrom the average person, that the public cannot find any logical reason to wantto vote them into world-beater and consequently, do not vote at all. This could beconsidered one of the most crucial facto rs to contributeto a declining voter turnout because the aim of an elected political sympathies is torepresent the publics views inParliament to ensure that the decisions made, and laws created, benefit the country in the most inclusive waypossible. Therefore, when the public feel as though they are not beingaccurately represented in Parliament they can feel alienated which in turn,promotes disinterest and a feeling of disengagement among the public withregard to politics. The British Academy stated that British society hasbecome, for the most part, dis set-aside(p) with politicsIn the case of Britishvoters, it is important to check the scale and depth of theirdisenchantment. This can be considered important because if we can engage thepublic in politics through their MPs and other representatives, this would by and by improve voter turnout.The secondof my proposed explanations for declining levels of voter turnout is the ideathat the public no longer places anyvalue in voting, be lieving that their votes will not make a difference. TheHouse of Commons Political and Constitutional Committee found this especially whenthe member of the public lived in an area in which there was a safe seat, thatis, where the party of the elected representative was unlikely to change4. Thevalue of voting can be considered an important explanation for the decline invoter turnout because if the public doesnot feel as if their vote will make a difference, or produce the outcome theyprefer, they will be less(prenominal) inclined to even try. It was suggested by IoannisKolovos and Phil Harris that voters weigh up the costs and benefits of theiractions, meaning that the public will turn up to vote when they consider thatthe benefits of such an action outweigh the costs5. Anexample of how the public have been made to feel disengaged with politics canbe seen in the last election in which theGreen companionship and UKIP had significant support, resulting in a considerablenumber of votes . Under a different political system,these parties would have won 85 seats. Unfortunately, for the people that votedfor them, the Green party and UKIP only gained 1 seat each. Therefore, itappears that when people see that a significant percentage of the electorateare completely ignored due to the current political system, they join up onvoting entirely due to the fact they think that their votes will not make adifference leading them to believe that the actof voting had little benefits. This could explain the decline in voter turnoutin most democracies in the last few decades. There are more factors that can explain the decline in voter turnout in most democracies over the last few decades. In this essay, I have cogitate on and provided empirical evidence for what I believe to be two of the most important political disengagement and dissatisfaction and the reduction in the value of voting. The subscribe to for politics to be more inclusive and for the public to feel as though they can relate to their representatives would considerably help the rates of voter turnout as they would feel as though their vote means something and would contribute to an outcome that would benefit themselves as well as others. They would also feel more involved in the political process which, in turn would allow them to restore the value of their vote because as the public begins to feel more engaged and satisfied with their representative in Parliament, they would place a value on their vote as they would know that it could potentially make a difference. REFERENCES1) Anon, (2018). online Available athttps//www.researchgate.net/publication/228215776_What_Affects_Voter_TurnoutAccessed 9 Jan. 2018.2) Crewe, I 1992, Changing votes and unchanging voters,Electoral Studies, 11, 4, p. 335-345, Scopus, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 January20183) Dalton, Russell J., Citizen Politics Public Opinion andPolitical Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, fifth edition (WashingtonDC CQ Press, 2008 ), p. 37. International Institute for Democracy and ElectoralAssistance, Voter Turnout Database, International IDEA website.4) E-International Relations. (2018). Why is Turnout atElections Declining Across the classless World? online Available at http//www.e-ir.info/2012/09/27/why-is-turnout-at-elections-declining-across-the-democratic-world/Accessed 9 Jan. 2018.5) Hooghe, M, & Kern, A. 2017, The tipping point betweenstability and decline Trends in voter turnout, 1950-1980-2012, EuropeanPolitical Science, 16, 4, p. 535-552, Scopus, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 declination2017.6) Kolovos, I. and Harris, P. (n.d.). Voter Apathy in BritishElections Causes and Remedies. pp.2-3.7) Kolovos, I. and Harris, P. (n.d.). Voter Apathy in BritishElections Causes and Remedies. Pp.3.8) Lop.parl.ca. (2018). Democracy Defined Our Country, OurParliament. online Available athttps//lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/ reading/ourcountryourparliament/html_booklet/democracy-defined-e.htmlAccessed 12 Jan. 2018.9) Pub lications.parliament.uk. (2014). online Available athttps//publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmpolcon/232/232.pdfAccessed 11 Jan. 2018.10) Sos.wa.gov. (2018). online Available athttps//www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx Accessed 11 Jan.2018.11) Southwell, PL 2008, THE EFFECT OF POLITICAL ALIENATIONON VOTER TURNOUT, 1964-2000, Journal Of Political & Military Sociology,36, 1, pp. 131-145, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 January 2018.(http//eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=13872f22-38b9-460a-bd0c-4953cc4c2455%40pdc-v-sessmgr01)12) Stuart, C. (2016). Why is the turnout for UK elections solow?. online Quora. Available athttps//www.quora.com/Why-is-the-turnout-for-UK-elections-so-low Accessed 10Jan. 2018.13) Ukpolitical.info. (2018). Voter turnout at UK generalelections 1945 2017 UK Political Info. online Available athttp//www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout45.htm Accessed 11 Jan. 2018.ONLINE SOURCESReasons for low voter engagemen t https//publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmpolcon/232/23205.htm indite evidence submitted by Tim Knight (VUK 69) http//data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/8287.htmlWritten evidence submitted by 38 Degrees (VUK 50) http//data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7510.htmlWritten evidence submitted by Ian Sheppard (VUK 51) http//data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7575.htmlWritten evidence submitted by Michael Yates (VUK 53) Whydoes the UK experience low voter engagement http//data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/wri tten/7880.htmlWritten evidence submitted by David H Smith (VUK 59)Reasons for and impact of low voter engagement. http//data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7970.html1Voter Apathy in British elections Causes and Remedies, pg2-32 DemocracyDefined Our Country, Our Parliament.3House of Commons Political and Constitutional Committee Voter engagement inthe UK (2014-15) S3, Pg. 74 Writtenevidence from 38 Degrees VUK50, Ian Sheppard VUK51, Michael YatesVUK 53, David H Smith VUK59, Tim KnightVUK 69,5Voter apathy in British elections Causes and Remedies