Britain has a representative democracy which is no longer representative, an electorate that doesn’t fully participate in politics and a section of the population that lacks the right skills for political engagement (Birch et al., 2013). But, the crisis is more serious than this because this is about inequality, discrepancies and alienation (Flinders, 2014). Time and time again it is people who are less well-off financially that are becoming voiceless and non-existent in the eyes of politicians and political parties. Large scale, fundamental and widespread change is required to fix this crisis: from compulsory voting to a better citizenship education and compulsory political activities at schools (Birch et al., 2013; George, 2018).
There are no two ways about it: social class still has a direct and negative impact on political engagement (Ipsos Mori, 2015; Ipsos Mori, 2017). That is, if one is from a lower socio-economic class they are less likely to vote, participate in politics and engage in democracy. This also illustrates that inheritance plays a much bigger role in contemporary society – because you don’t just inherent your parent’s wealth and financial capital, but also their political engagement. It’s very likely that if your parents were not politically active that you won’t be either and if they were active then it is very likely that you will also be incredibly active in both electoral and non-electoral forms of participation.
As Figure 1 illustrates below, there is a whopping 16% difference between the voter turnout of the highest and lowest social classes, with the voter turnout for the managerial class at 69% and that of manual and unemployed people at only a dismal 53% (Ipsos Mori, 2017). This is also largely representative of the voter turnouts at the 2015 General Election (Ipsos Mori, 2015).
Figure 1 – Turnout by Social Class at General Election 2017.
Add age to this equation and the picture becomes even bleaker and more depressing. Among 18-34 year olds, for example, the voter turnout gap between the highest and lowest social classes was an exponential 26% (Ipsos Mori, 2017). Only 35% of people of young people from a manual and unemployed background turned up to cast their vote compared to 61% of young people from a managerial background (Ipsos Mori, 2017).
Of course, one may argue that electoral participation is not the be-all-end-all and that the lower classes may simply practice alternative politics. However, it simply isn’t true. People from lower social classes are less likely to engage in political activities regardless of the format (Hoskins et al., 2017). Young people from disadvantage backgrounds, for instance, are less likely than their middle class counterparts to participate school political activities, such as: debates, the student council and mock elections (Goldstein, 2018).
Additionally, one may argue that education has a more detrimental role to play, as opposed to socio-economic inequality. But the underlying theme is that of wealth (Hoskins & Janmaat, 2016). This is highlighted by the fact that ‘the effect of the graduate variable may be partly explained by differences in wages’ (Birch et al., 2013:11). It is one’s economic background that is likely to determine the level and type of educational attainment as well as political engagement (Hoskins et al., 2017).
The fact that economic background still matters in public life is nothing less than a tragedy for a democratic nation-state, especially for a democracy that is the inventor of parliamentary democracy. A health democracy requires active citizens because ‘with so many people in society alienated from politics, democracy itself is weakened’ (Flinders, 2014). The concept active citizens refers to people who participate in protests, community projects, representative democracy and adhere to democratic values (Hoskins & Mascherini, 2009). And, the fact that the lower social classes are constantly missing out on each of these four dimensions must warrant action.
Firstly, voting for the first timers should be compulsory (Birch et al., 2013). This may seem like a radical idea to people who cherish individualism and freedom of choice, but it really isn’t. As evident below, Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States is open to the idea “because it would be transformative if everyone voted… especially low-income groups” (CNN, 2015). It would be transformative precisely because everyone’s interests would be represented, including those who are from manual and unemployed background. First time voting would also counter voting inequality among 18-34 year olds where the class gap is bigger than in the older generations.
CNN – Obama suggests mandatory voting
Secondly, a more fundamental approach is needed to equip every citizen with adequate political literacy everyone can become an active citizen. Schools and sixth forms can play a vital role in countering the class-based political inequality (George, 2018; . As noted above, it is students from middle class backgrounds who make the most use of voluntary political activities at education institutions. To solve this, academics have argued that, these political activities should be compulsory.
Both of the above propositions are academically and empirically sound arguments. Research has illustrated that ‘learning through social participation, both inside and outside school… shows a strong positive relationship with citizenship knowledge, skills and dispositions’ (Hoskins et al., 2012: 419).
Are you in favour of these ideas to make democracy representative?
References
Birch, S., Gottfried, G. & Lodge, G. (2013) Divided Democracy: Political Inequality in the UK and why it Matter. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. Available from: https://www.ippr.org/files/images/media/files/publication/2013/11/divided-democracy_Nov2013_11420.pdf (Accessed: 28/02/19).
CNN (2015) Obama Suggests Mandatory Voting [YouTube]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu3AZ1Hjw0c (Accessed: 25/02/19).
Flinders, M. (2014) Low voter turnout is clearly a problem, but a much greater worry is the growing inequality of that turnout. LSE Blogs – British Politics and Policy. 13th March. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/look-beneath-the-vote/ (Accessed: 27/02/19).
George, M. (15th November, 2018) Call for debates to be compulsory for all secondary pupils. TES. Available from: https://www.tes.com/news/call-debates-be-compulsory-all-secondary-pupils (Accessed: 25/02/19).
Goldstein, D. (28th Nov, 2018) Are Civics Lessons a Constitutional Right? This Student Is Suing for Them. The New York Times. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/civics-rhode-island-schools.html#commentsContainer (Accessed: 28/02/19).
Hoskins, B. L., & Mascherini, M. (2009) Measuring Active Citizenship through the Development of a Composite Indicator. Social Indicator Research. 90(3) pp. 459-488. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27734804?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (Accessed: 27/02/19).
Hoskins, B., Janmaat, J. G. & Villalba, E. (2012) Learning citizenship through social participation outside and inside school: an international, multilevel study of young people’s learning of citizenship. British Education Research Journal. 38(3) pp. 419-446. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411926.2010.550271 (Accessed: 01/03/19).
Hoskins, B. & Janmaat, J. G. (2016) Education trajectories and inequalities of political engagement among adolescents in England. Social Science Research. 56 pp. 73-89. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X1500188X?via%3Dihub (Accessed: 27/02/19).
Hoskins, B., Janmaat, J. G. & Mellis, G. (2017) Tackling inequalities in political socialisation: A systematic analysis of access to and mitigation effects of learning citizenship at school. Social Science Research. 68 pp.81-101. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.09.001 (Accessed:
Ipsos Mori (2015) How Britain voted in 2015. Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-2015 (Accessed: 14/02/19).
Ipsos Mori (2017) How Britain vote in the 2017 election. Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-2017-election (Accessed: 11/02/19).
Note
Word count: 846 (excluding bibliography).
Socio-economic inequalities in political engagement is an incredibly important issue that needs to be addressed, considering the evidence you have provided for differences in turnout between the different social grades. Your focus on how this affects our position as a ‘democratic’ nation is very well presented and it is great that you provided potential solutions for the problem. I definitely agree that more can be done in terms of educating members of society about how important their right to vote is, and how it could benefit them to exercise it. I will make the point, however, that compulsory participation in schools for activities that encourage political participation and expanding one’s knowledge as part of the curriculum is a more achievable goal than making voting itself compulsory. You have argued your case for compulsory voting well, but we arent just talking about people who ‘value their individualism and freedom of choice’ lightly. An individual’s right to vote is exactly that, a right – just like their right to an attorney, their right to a fair trial, or their right to privacy. Voting is essentially a civil right which governments should not be able to infringe, otherwise it could be a slippery slope towards their involvement in other rights as previously metioned. What kind of detrimental effects could that potentially have for our nation as a whole?
There are also other potential issues/questions to consider such as:
1. What if some people just simply dont feel that ANY of the candidates represent their interest, but then still have to vote for one of them? Does that not undermine the purpose of democracy anyway? If someone felt strongly that their interests are not represented or will not be addressed by the potential government presented to them, then voting would just be a waste of time for them anyway, and they would essentially be voting for a government that they dont even want. The people who are apathetic and disillusioned will slip through the cracks so that our ability and motivation to then come up with new and creative ways to engage these people, or find out why they arent egaged, will become obsolete.
What happens if voting is compulsory and some people dont vote? What penalties will then be put in place and how will they be enforced? Is it fair, for example, that someone should be fined (pay money to the goverenment) or potentially serve jail-time for not voting? It becomes a case of: ‘so if I dont vote, I need to pay you money’ or ‘so if I dont vote, you will take away my other rights and freedoms’.
I am not necessarily opposed to compulsory voting, depending on whether a fair enough arrangement can be worked out, but I do believe that it is a less viable tactic than simply improving on the educational backgrounds of individuals. And if schools manage to get more funding, then I say that is a pretty good win too.
I really enjoy your opening to this incredible political writing piece. Straight away I am able to identify you opinion on this topic of socioeconomic inequality within political engagement of society. But there’s also a clear overview of what’s to come further on in the article, which is helpful.
What really stood out to me was the great use of statistics within your work. The points you make about gaps between voting turn out amongst social classes are really nicely demonstrated through the clear graph. It is easy to understand and also creates a security within your argument as I am able to see the evidence of the information you use. I also often find myself spending lots of time trying to decipher graphs in articles, but you have simplified this for me, and I appreciate that element of your work.
Furthermore, you go on to give a detailed story of the extent of the problems in this area of politics. Why lack of equality in political engagement is an issue and how big an issue it is. This coupled with the explanation of key terms throughout the post creates a slick and well thought out argument.
Not only is this the case, but you also go on to offer solutions to the problems that you earlier highlight. It is encouraging to see the many ways in which there is potential to improve political engagement of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. It also rounds the piece off nicely as it does not leave the post on a negative, dismal note, it concludes with practical solutions. And those solutions are well informed, justified and explained.
And finally ending with a question for the reader to ponder upon seems like a really great way to ensure the article penetrates the readers thoughts even after they have finished reading your work.
I really enjoyed reading this post and it filled me with hope when reading the solutions you proposed to inequality in political engagement.
This argument made for an interesting piece of reading – the parts about mandatory voting and the compulsory inclusion of political education within schools brings up a valid point when looking at equalling the playing field for all young people regardless of class!