EVALUATE THE VIEW THAT THE UK IS SUFFERING FROM A PARTICIPATIOON CRISIS - dem+par

Turnouts agree

P - compared to late 20th century elections, recent turnouts have been low

E - peaked at 78.8% in 1974.

• 2019 - GE turnout was 67.3% - down from 2017

• between 1964 and 1997 avg turnout was around 75% whilst between 2005 and 2019 avg turnout was 66%3

E - high income voters had a higher turnout (68%) whilst lower income voters had lower turnout (53%)

• people who are in the least privileged positions have less faith in democracy - political solutions wont fix their problems

E - voting systems

• Under FPTP many voters feel their vote doesn’t count - low turnout in safe seats

Turnouts - disagree

C - However, GE turnouts are not necessarily representative of participation in the UK:

• From 2001-2017, GE turnout has steadily increased

• Anomalies include 2019- GE held in Dec, low political participation is not the sole cause for low turnout (67.5%)

• Abstaining can be considered a form of political participation as represents dissatisfaction with the system as a whole (People who don't vote largely accept the results as legitimate)

• Referendums have a higher turnout, on the whole - Scottish independence referendum had 85%

• also decreasing across the entirety suggesting that this is normal and it isn’t just the UK that is suffering form a participation crisis.

Overall, whilst turnout is lower than in previous decades, it is increasing steadily.

Moreover, low turnout doesn't necessarily indicate apathy amongst non-voters, demonstrating why there is not a participation crisis in terms of GE turnout.

Traditional vs non traditional participation - Agree

• Only 1% of UK are members of political party

• E.g. labour membership was 430,000 in 2021 compared to 1 million in 1953

• Similarly Tory membership was 200,000 in 2021, compared with 2.8 million in 1953

• Many people are put off attending local party meetings as they are highly divisive, particularly Labour meetings have this reputation

Traditional and non-traditional participation - disagree

Lacking party membership doesn't reflect participation, but instead increasing party disalignment.

Not being loyal to one party may even show increased participation, as voters are actively seeking new perspectives and information every election

Instead they may participate in less partisan ways:

• Social media allows people to engage with politics

• BBC News had 10 million followers on Twitter in 2021

• Demonstrating how social media improves participation by providing political information in a very accessible format

  • E-petitions were introduced in 2015, and allow the public to raise issues important to them, that may be overlooked by parliament

  • Between 2015 and 2020, 23 million signed e-petitions on the parliament website
    End Period Poverty campaign began with a e-petition to scrap VAT on sanitary products and was successful

Trade unions activity - agree

• Numbers of employees who were trade union members fell from the 1979 pack of 13.2m to 5.35m in 202

• Eg. Junior doctors rejected the new contract negotiated by their union leaders, frustration could lead people to stop being members

• Questions regarding the impact of union action
  - Widespread public sector strikes in 2022 and 2023, and the Sunak govt has yet to give in to pay demands of unions including those of teachers and civil servants

• Trade union act, 2016-imposes restrictions on
  striking, making it more difficult and limiting their impact

This indicates that there is a participation crisis with regard to trade union action, as many people have felt, recently, that there are no upsides of joining a union as they are ineffective and not worth losing their pay over.

Trade unions activity - disagree

However, particularly in the public sector, trade union influence has remained strong.

• 50% of the public sector belong to a union

• Overwhelming majority for junior doctors to strike- the ballot had a turnout of around 77%. These ballots actively promote participation and choosing not to go on strike is equally a form of political engagement

• Recent wave of public sector strikes demonstrate that employees are increasingly willing to stand up for their rights and pay when it is under threat from govt

• Trade union participation has been increased by the cost of living crisis and decade of pay restraint

Overall, whilst union membership has decreased in private sectors, it has remained steady in the public sector. The membership of unions are also more willing than previously to withdraw labour and advocate for real political change.