How does our socio-economic and racial backgrounds act as barriers in political engagement?

Let’s talk about it!

Our social status and racial background are inextricably linked with our levels of political engagement and this is because they come hand in hand. The poorest voices are often the quietest in times of political change (R.Turner, 2002) and this is due to lack of faith that engagement from the lowest social classes will be able to exert any influence over basic elements like housing, health and education; asking them to political engage becomes pointless.

You might ask, how does race become a factor?

With the UK being a majority British-White nation, minorities are often underrepresented and pushed to the lowest positions in society which in turn, effects their overall socio-economic status. With little minority representation in the higher positions of society, it becomes difficult to politically engage as the population feel they have no-one they can relate to or be represented on behalf of. For example, there is a lack of minority representation in senior civil servants (Elise Uberoi, Rebecca Lees, 2020) and people from the same backgrounds will be discouraged to apply for similar roles and therefore, are unable to break the barriers that disadvantage them. Despite the obvious fact that there are more British-White people in the UK leading to them having proportionately higher representation, this should not stop the ratio of minority to majority in higher positions such as parliament, education and other authoritarian roles to become equal and fair. The proportion of people from an ethnic minority background has risen in recent years and so, the representation of them in political and public positions must rise in order to encourage political participation and equality in the workplace (Elise Uberoi, Rebecca Lees, 2020).

The graphs above demonstrate how the representation of ethnic minorities in senior positions in education is very poor and lacks equality. With education being a significant factor in political engagement, it is important that ethnic minorities are represented in these positions as it will help participation. Education of the youth can contribute to their engagement and fuel their activist or community action and even more so if they belong to the same minority backgrounds as their teachers. Establishments have the opportunity to act as social levellers and help people from deprived backgrounds gain access to platforms for civic and political engagement (J. Sloam, 2021). This can help to level out inequalities in political engagement due to social-economic and racial backgrounds.

The concept that political participation is directly linked to social-economic and racial inequality is evident here as the percentage of the workforce being from an ethnic minority is next to none. 85.7% were from white British backgrounds in 2019. This highlights the fact that your ethnicity pushes you to disadvantageous social-economic conditions and creates a polarising political influence according to class and wealth (Electoral Commission, 2005).

 

 

The information above illustrates the sheer lack of representation in members of Parliament being elected from ethnicity minority groups. Despite their being a small growth in percentages, the representation is not nearly enough to be considered equal. The graph clearly defends my argument that your background is inextricably linked with your levels of political engagement as minority groups will view this representation as a case of their voices being unheard and pointless. In turn, this leads to low levels of participation and feeling unbothered by the outcome of political as it would not tend to their very specific needs.

As ethnic minorities are from different socio-economic backgrounds to the majority, it is important to note what they are deprived of and why it acts as such a huge barrier. Income, employment, healthcare, education/skills/training and housing and living environments are all examples and when experiencing this level of social exclusion, engaging in politics becomes less prioritised as the outcome often tends to not benefit their situation. Moreover, the direct link between social background and electoral participation is that the lower classes tend to be the most politically excluded and this disengagement can also be seen as a form of social exclusion/deprivation (Electoral Commission, 2005).

My own experience: 

Living in the richest borough of London, Kensington and Chelsea, I am able to first-hand witness the steep divide between classes and minority groups. The borough is home to the famous, luxury, white houses with run-down council estates just five minutes away. The divide is evident and the reasons why need to be discussed. Going to a state-funded school means I did not get the same opportunities that those in private schools did. Education is a significant factor here as most private school students will have parents that attended University and are British-white and so, they are exposed to figures in higher positions such as the government or private institutions. Whereas, those in state-funded schools will often be the first to go to University (this is correct in my own case) and will not have been exposed to figures in senior positions or education that encourages or makes important the concept of political participation. This is why it is so important to have a more equal proportion of teachers from different backgrounds in order to encourage members of minority groups to apply for roles and be motivated to politically engage and feel as though their vote or say will matter in the future. The government also have a position of authority to ensure that education in state-funded schools are at an exceptional standard to ensure that the disadvantage of not attending a private school is not felt and students are not given a ‘head start’ simply because one had money and the other did not. Nordic schools found that students with more advantages experienced greater opportunities to participate and tended to be exposed to more civic learning opportunities and open classroom climates (B.Hoskins, 2021). This would be a simple solution to help level the inequalities in the field of political participation.

 

Another significant factor is that despite the growth in recent years, we must acknowledge that this is still a problem facing the UK now and in current society. Disraeli described the different classes as being ‘inhabitants of different planets’ (J. Foundation 2004) who are ignorant to each other’s thoughts and feelings. This is certainly the case in this day and age as the lower classes feel as though their voices are unheard of and will not be able to exert any influence or develop policy in their favour as only those in higher positions are heard and favoured. Social instability and insecurity generate a loss of faith in politics and poorer people have different priorities that they need tended to by those in power. Nonetheless, political exclusion describes an experience of utter powerlessness within society and in 2022, this surely cannot go on. Everyone from all backgrounds should be empowered enough to engage in their country’s political system to try and make a change for themselves and feel as though their engagement will matter.

 

What are some solutions that you feel could help increase political participation amongst those from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged social-economic backgrounds? Is enough being done?

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog on inequalities and political participation. I would love to know your thoughts.

 

 

 

References: 

– Elise Uberoi, Rebecca Lees, Ethnic diversity in politics and public life, October 2020, House of Commons Library.

– The Electoral Commission, Research Report, November 2005.

– Benjamin Disraeli (1845) Sybil: Or the two nations. Book II, Chapter 5, Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks 1998. Quoted in Donald Hirsch, Strategies against poverty: a shared road map (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2004).

– Turner, R., ‘Voter turnout, poverty and disconnection from the political process’, in Disengaged and disinterested: deliberations on voter apathy (New Politics Network, Winter 2002).

– Hoskins, B., Huang, L., Arensmeier, C. (2021). Socioeconomic Inequalities in Civic Learning in Nordic Schools: Identifying the Potential of In-School Civic Participation for Disadvantaged Students. In: Biseth, H., Hoskins, B., Huang, L. (eds) Northern Lights on Civic and Citizenship Education. IEA Research for Education, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66788-7_5

– Sloam, J., Kisby, B., Henn, M., & Oldfield, B. (2021). Voice, equality and education: the role of higher education in defining the political participation of young Europeans. Comparative European Politics, 19(3), 296-322