Participation Crisis Essay

Submitted By Will-Blatch
Words: 1592
Pages: 7
Open Document
Is there a participation crisis in the UK?
People consider that we have a participation crisis because of the fact that votes from the electorate have declined. I will discuss this during this essay.

A participation crisis is the view that declining levels of political participation in the UK threaten to undermine its democratic systems. By having a poor participation it shows that people have lost interest in politics, it could be because the government or parties don't stand for what they used to or maybe it's because they don't live up to any of their promises. From the figures, we can see that there is a possible participation crisis, from 2001 to
2010 we see a big decline in figures. In 2001 the turnout was 59.4%, 2005 was 61.3% and 2010 was 65%, although these figures are rising year by year if we compare them to
1979 where the turnout was 76% we can see there has been a big decline in the amount of people that are voting. We also see that there is a decline in the amount of people joining political parties this is something that was quite common for people to do around the 70's and 80's. In 1983 3.8% of the electorate were members of political parties this is compared to now where there are less than 1% who are a member of a party. In comparison to this the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has 1.2 million members, this is more than the amount of members for political parties. In the United Kingdom we have seen that political parties have become more centralised, by this I mean that the
Conservative party used to be right wing and the Labour party used to be left wing but we have seen now that parties are getting closer to the middle to try and appeal to everyone.
I think that by doing this it is putting people off of voting because parties aren’t standing for what they used to, this could be why in 1979 the turnout was 76% as the parties were more different and stood for their own beliefs to help their class of people. Another reason that we may have a crisis in the UK is because most of the younger generation don’t have an interest in politics, so therefore by not having an interest in politics they won’t cast a vote. I think that it is extremely important for the younger generation to have an interest as the things that are being done now will affect them later on in life. Young people may not vote because of apathy, this is where the person has a lack of interest and enthusiasm on the subject or because they feel alienated. They may feel alienated or apathetic because the parties aren't trying to appeal to the younger generation or because the decisions that are being made aren't affecting them. In the 2010 election only 44% of 18-24 year olds voted, I personally think that this is very low. Obviously not only young people feel apathetic and alienated but I think that this age group is the most affected. I also think that a reason that there may be a participation crisis in the UK is because of the lack of faith people have in MP's. There have been a lot of stories about scandals, for example the expenses scandal where MP's were buying items and then claiming the money back, this money was coming from tax payers, another scandal was the phone hacking although not exactly to do with politics it caught a lot of attention because David
Cameron had hired Andy Coulson as the Director of Communications, this meant that some people loss faith in David Cameron because of his decision choices, this could therefore result in less people voting because of lack of faith. There is also the issue of

untruths,§ If there is an issue in a constituency and the MP says they they will bring it up but they don't it won't go down well within the constituency and people may therefore lose faith and then may not vote because they don't feel like they are being heard this will then cause less people to vote which would lead to a participation crisis.

On the other hand there might not be a participation crisis because people
Show More

Related Documents: Participation Crisis Essay

Essay about To what extent does democracy in the UK

To what extent does democracy in the UK suffer from a ‘participation crisis’? There has been a decrease in the general election turnouts, suggesting a participation crisis that can arguably cause the party that gains the position of govt. to lack legitimacy. In 2001 the general election turnout was 59 per cent. Furthermore, there has been a gradual decline in party membership numbers for the three main parties, signifying partisan dealignment, less than 1 per cent of the UK’s electorate is currently…

Words 1111 - Pages 5

Essay on Political Participation

political participation crisis in the UK?’ Political participation has extremely declined in the UK since 1997. Turnout at general elections between 1922 and 1997 has always been above 71% however in recent years, the statistics of voters at general elections has dropped to below 60%. Despite the rise from 2001 to 2010, turnout at general elections still remains considerably low. In my essay I will discuss whether these falling figures mean that there is indeed a political participation disaster…

Words 1668 - Pages 7

Crisis Blown over Essay

Case Study 4 ± Crisis Blown Over Ques 1. Do you think that the Bangalore-based company had practiced participative management? Answer. During such a crisis the company and the union both showed great sense of oneness. They both come together for solving the problem and thus ensured that the employees and the employers both don’t suffer the consequences of the factory being shut for non-production by the workers. Yes, they have practiced participative management. Participative (or participatory)…

Words 889 - Pages 4

David Buijs Grand Stories

Buijs argues that the participation society, as the government envisages it, requires a major transformation in social-moral attitudes and infrastructure.1 It requires a new type of citizen. Buys believes that we are now at the crossroads of the conflicting lines of narrative in the story of the citizen. In one line of narrative, the citizen becomes a selfish, calculating individual, who only has its own interest in mind. In this scenario, the citizen grows up in fear of the future, because he knows…

Words 719 - Pages 3

Essay on Portugal: Inflation and Portugal

debate: the existence of necessary common European policies must not weaken the fact that member states have to design policies and structural changes that address specific national issues. The lower Italian participation reflects the larger shadow economy but not only: women and young participation rates are very low relative to European standards. Certainly this is an…

Words 688 - Pages 3

Mac Attack Essay

said the unemployment rate is still increasing and it is getting worse as the economic outlook gets worse. For youth workers there are around 75 million youth unemployed around the world. This unemployment rate for youth has remained similar to the crisis peak in 2009 and the medium term predictions show very little improvements. Not only are the youth unemployed and people have been worried about this, but there are also a number of youth who are not in the work force and who are not doing any kind…

Words 715 - Pages 3

Management Of Change Essays

based on the authority of the management teams. to enforce, by agents, draft changes designed unilaterally by these teams. Based on a vertical mode and down, these models do not value the agents; they are observed especially in situations of grave crisis. b) Model based on the intervention: Also called "innovative" (Paquier 2005) style, this model is applicable in situations that need for change to involve the intervention of a team that supports the development of the draft change and the development…

Words 554 - Pages 3

IB Assignment 2 Essay

What role does the IMF play in the European Debt Crisis? Causes and Implications A number of economic misfortunes that started in 2002 created a European fiscal dilemma, including increasing debt experienced by the banks and governments of several European countries. It is believed that the uncontrolled debt led to the fiscal predicament that extended to grave proportions. Currently, at least 16 European countries are in debt. Among the countries most affected are Greece, Spain, Ireland, and…

Words 640 - Pages 3

Decicision Making - Early Years Essays

learning as an area to develop by listening to their wishes. Staff have a year long commitment to the improvement plan and are therefore pivotal to any decisions reached. Arriving at a shared vision together promotes partnership, ownership and participation. This is a long process which involves lots of procedures and would not be suited to a short timeframe. We use child at the centre in conjunction with the national care standards to identify areas for improvement frequently over the year. By constantly…

Words 685 - Pages 3

renewable energies Essay

Nations Excellency, The economic crisis we are experiencing is that some big issues remain marginalized in the media. This is happening with the energy crisis, a vital problem for mankind especially worrisome for a country like ours that is only has non-renewable energy resources. With this letter we want to call the attention of the Government and American society about it, since we believe that it will not be possible to overcome the economic crisis if we do not realize the role energy plays…

Words 742 - Pages 3