Is Democracy dead?
At what point does democracy become undemocratic?
So… Boris is in at No. 10. No one’s surprised. And he won it at a canter in the end (now that’s an image); almost 50,000 Tory votes difference between him and Hunt. Johnson becomes the 20th Primer Minister from Etonand can now lead us down whatever route he deems fit for Brexit.
However, whatever the outcome of the leadership contest we were always going to have another unelected Prime Minister. 2 out of 2 in the last few years. Both decided by 160,000 Conservative member voters. As a proportion of the population, those belonging to the Tory party stands at around 0.15%. A little less than this if we consider that 87% of the 160,000 voted. The demographic of the Voting members is also highly unrepresentative of the wider UK population: 97% are white and nearly 40% are over the age of 66 and 70% are men. This is compared to 87% white for the wider UK and a near 50-50 split between men and women. Perhaps most telling is that 5% of members earn more than £100,000 a year putting them in the top 1% of earners in the UK.
This article is not to throw the toys out the pram over a womble in Downing Street (see Social Media for that) but to highlight that perhaps we should be taking the democratic system more seriously, realising the power we have with our right to vote and making sure that the decisions made by all politicians across the spectrum are done with the public’s interest at heart.
One of the main issues with the democratic process in this country is the relatively low turnout that each election (when put to the wider public) has. Turnout has rarely peaked above 70% - in fact only twice in the last 30 years. Turnout at the 2017 election was 68.8% a dramatic increase over the 59% seen in 2001 and also representing the highest turnout in the 21st century. However, this is still a far cry from the 80%’s seen in the 1950s and the high 70%s consistently seen in the 60s, 70s and 80s. So why is around 30% of the voting population not going to the polling stations?
A common theme has been the turnout and engagement of the youth vote; mainly those around the ages of 18-24. Since the turn of the century, the youth vote has been as low as 38% (2005) whilst last time out, in 2017, this rose to around 65% i.e. the Jeremy Corbyn effect. However, the youth vote has always been far below the national average and is further highlighted when compared with the turnout for those aged over 65. For this age group, the turnout is consistently above 70% - peaking at 78% in 2015. In fact, election turnout can be generalised down to age group; those in the older age groups are more likely to vote, thus having a higher turnout per election then there younger counterparts. This trend is seen with every increase in age group in the 21st century. So why are only 60% of young people and less than 80% of older people voting? One reason is the practicalities of voting: in the UK all votes are either cast at a polling station or through the post. A large majority of voters vote in person at the small stations positioned around a city, however, these can be hard to get to and can become overcrowded once the ordinary working day has finished. They have been suggestions that the UK may switch to online voting although this seems a long way off and there are concerns about the exclusionary effects of those who can’t access the internet. Perhaps, a more prominent reason is the parties themselves. In recent times, there has been little differentiation between the main conservative and labour parties with both pushing for different levels of austerity measures post-2008, while Tony Blair’s ‘New Labour’ party of the 1990s was just a rebranded former Tory party to save us from the terrors of Thatcher. Even the help of Noel Gallagher and Bono couldn’t disguise the parties shift away from the working class. It is, therefore, no surprise that in the years following the 1997 election turnout dropped. Although increases in the last 2 elections can be contributed to the NEW labour policy of actually operating from the left and giving a considerable amount of opposition to the conservatives. The emergence of the SNP and Green party as wider alternatives is also encouraging.
But what of the youth vote?
The Jeremy Corbyn effect of doubling down of policies directed at those who had just turned of voting age can be seen to have led to an increase of 18-24 voters by as much as 15% from 2015. The main policies of cutting tuition fees and cancelling student debt resonated among young people along with promises of increases in spending in education and the NHS. This helped the labour party differentiated itself massively from the marketisation strategies of the Conservatives. It should also be noted that this differentiation is likely to have increased the likelihood of those who may not have otherwise of voted into voting. It will be interesting to see in the coming years whether the youth vote becomes stronger especially at a time when future policies around climate change will disproportionately affect the younger generations.
How does the UK compare to other countries?
The UK turnout at the 2017 election was 68.8%. In similar-sized countries such as France and Germany, turnout was measured at 42.6% (their lowest turnout in modern history) and 76.2%. respectively. In can be said that in the case of France there is very little opposition to Macron’s centralist party; while Le Pen’s right-wing views only resonate with a small minority. In France, it was almost a formality that Macron would win. In contrast, Germany had a highly contested election in 2017. The 2 top parties operate along liberal lines, although one is more conservative (CDU) and one aimed at more socialist aspects (SPD). Although not in direct opposition, they would form a coalition and give the mainstream some variation across the spectrum. What is most telling about the German election was the 3rd largest party was the Alternative for Germany (AfD) who hold strong right-wing views similar to UKIP in the UK. It can be said that the variation in political parties in Germany helps to keep the population engaged in the politics; with many parties there is likely to be one that represents the views of the large majority while the increase in right-wing parties across Europe gives another dimension of opposition, outside the mainstream, to the main parties. Mr Putin took this one step further by, recently, suggesting that the liberalism the most of Europe had been built upon is no longer similar with the overwhelming majority of the populations with right (and left) wing populism now at the forefront. In the countries analysed in this article, it is clear that the mainstream parties still hold (sorry Putin) but there is increasing influence from outside and further afield on the political spectrums. One most only look at the power of UKIP and the far-right in pushing for Brexit.
To summarise, although seeing Boris in No. 10 may fill you with dread. Democracy is not dead. And although this time around 0.15% of the population got to vote for our prime minister, the democratic election that is sure to come in the next year or so will show that, when given the chance to express a particular set of views through a party that represents them, the British people are highly engaged in the democratic process. Like it or not, but the influx of right-wing parties has aided 21st-century democracy and given real alternatives should the mainstream not float your boat, or even in the case of the labour party helped redesign policies to garner appeal. In the years to come, the youth vote will stay strong or grow stronger still and although, we don’t like to agree with Putin, a little bit of populism goes a long way in igniting democracy. Long live the election (but maybe not in France).
At what point does democracy become undemocratic?
So… Boris is in at No. 10. No one’s surprised. And he won it at a canter in the end (now that’s an image); almost 50,000 Tory votes difference between him and Hunt. Johnson becomes the 20th Primer Minister from Etonand can now lead us down whatever route he deems fit for Brexit.
However, whatever the outcome of the leadership contest we were always going to have another unelected Prime Minister. 2 out of 2 in the last few years. Both decided by 160,000 Conservative member voters. As a proportion of the population, those belonging to the Tory party stands at around 0.15%. A little less than this if we consider that 87% of the 160,000 voted. The demographic of the Voting members is also highly unrepresentative of the wider UK population: 97% are white and nearly 40% are over the age of 66 and 70% are men. This is compared to 87% white for the wider UK and a near 50-50 split between men and women. Perhaps most telling is that 5% of members earn more than £100,000 a year putting them in the top 1% of earners in the UK.
This article is not to throw the toys out the pram over a womble in Downing Street (see Social Media for that) but to highlight that perhaps we should be taking the democratic system more seriously, realising the power we have with our right to vote and making sure that the decisions made by all politicians across the spectrum are done with the public’s interest at heart.
One of the main issues with the democratic process in this country is the relatively low turnout that each election (when put to the wider public) has. Turnout has rarely peaked above 70% - in fact only twice in the last 30 years. Turnout at the 2017 election was 68.8% a dramatic increase over the 59% seen in 2001 and also representing the highest turnout in the 21st century. However, this is still a far cry from the 80%’s seen in the 1950s and the high 70%s consistently seen in the 60s, 70s and 80s. So why is around 30% of the voting population not going to the polling stations?
A common theme has been the turnout and engagement of the youth vote; mainly those around the ages of 18-24. Since the turn of the century, the youth vote has been as low as 38% (2005) whilst last time out, in 2017, this rose to around 65% i.e. the Jeremy Corbyn effect. However, the youth vote has always been far below the national average and is further highlighted when compared with the turnout for those aged over 65. For this age group, the turnout is consistently above 70% - peaking at 78% in 2015. In fact, election turnout can be generalised down to age group; those in the older age groups are more likely to vote, thus having a higher turnout per election then there younger counterparts. This trend is seen with every increase in age group in the 21st century. So why are only 60% of young people and less than 80% of older people voting? One reason is the practicalities of voting: in the UK all votes are either cast at a polling station or through the post. A large majority of voters vote in person at the small stations positioned around a city, however, these can be hard to get to and can become overcrowded once the ordinary working day has finished. They have been suggestions that the UK may switch to online voting although this seems a long way off and there are concerns about the exclusionary effects of those who can’t access the internet. Perhaps, a more prominent reason is the parties themselves. In recent times, there has been little differentiation between the main conservative and labour parties with both pushing for different levels of austerity measures post-2008, while Tony Blair’s ‘New Labour’ party of the 1990s was just a rebranded former Tory party to save us from the terrors of Thatcher. Even the help of Noel Gallagher and Bono couldn’t disguise the parties shift away from the working class. It is, therefore, no surprise that in the years following the 1997 election turnout dropped. Although increases in the last 2 elections can be contributed to the NEW labour policy of actually operating from the left and giving a considerable amount of opposition to the conservatives. The emergence of the SNP and Green party as wider alternatives is also encouraging.
But what of the youth vote?
The Jeremy Corbyn effect of doubling down of policies directed at those who had just turned of voting age can be seen to have led to an increase of 18-24 voters by as much as 15% from 2015. The main policies of cutting tuition fees and cancelling student debt resonated among young people along with promises of increases in spending in education and the NHS. This helped the labour party differentiated itself massively from the marketisation strategies of the Conservatives. It should also be noted that this differentiation is likely to have increased the likelihood of those who may not have otherwise of voted into voting. It will be interesting to see in the coming years whether the youth vote becomes stronger especially at a time when future policies around climate change will disproportionately affect the younger generations.
How does the UK compare to other countries?
The UK turnout at the 2017 election was 68.8%. In similar-sized countries such as France and Germany, turnout was measured at 42.6% (their lowest turnout in modern history) and 76.2%. respectively. In can be said that in the case of France there is very little opposition to Macron’s centralist party; while Le Pen’s right-wing views only resonate with a small minority. In France, it was almost a formality that Macron would win. In contrast, Germany had a highly contested election in 2017. The 2 top parties operate along liberal lines, although one is more conservative (CDU) and one aimed at more socialist aspects (SPD). Although not in direct opposition, they would form a coalition and give the mainstream some variation across the spectrum. What is most telling about the German election was the 3rd largest party was the Alternative for Germany (AfD) who hold strong right-wing views similar to UKIP in the UK. It can be said that the variation in political parties in Germany helps to keep the population engaged in the politics; with many parties there is likely to be one that represents the views of the large majority while the increase in right-wing parties across Europe gives another dimension of opposition, outside the mainstream, to the main parties. Mr Putin took this one step further by, recently, suggesting that the liberalism the most of Europe had been built upon is no longer similar with the overwhelming majority of the populations with right (and left) wing populism now at the forefront. In the countries analysed in this article, it is clear that the mainstream parties still hold (sorry Putin) but there is increasing influence from outside and further afield on the political spectrums. One most only look at the power of UKIP and the far-right in pushing for Brexit.
To summarise, although seeing Boris in No. 10 may fill you with dread. Democracy is not dead. And although this time around 0.15% of the population got to vote for our prime minister, the democratic election that is sure to come in the next year or so will show that, when given the chance to express a particular set of views through a party that represents them, the British people are highly engaged in the democratic process. Like it or not, but the influx of right-wing parties has aided 21st-century democracy and given real alternatives should the mainstream not float your boat, or even in the case of the labour party helped redesign policies to garner appeal. In the years to come, the youth vote will stay strong or grow stronger still and although, we don’t like to agree with Putin, a little bit of populism goes a long way in igniting democracy. Long live the election (but maybe not in France).