To What Extent Does Democracy in the Uk Suffer from a Participation Crisis?

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On the other hand, while participation related to voting and party membership may have fallen, pressure groups, especially promotional groups have really significantly developed as has an involvement in protest politics. This could suggest that the nature of participation has changed rather than participation declining overall. Pressure groups are becoming increasingly larger in the politics spotlight. They often campaign for changes in specific areas, areas that have meaning to them. This form of participation is more beneficial for them as they know they are campaigning towards something they feel strongly about rather than just casting a vote for any party whose manifestos may not appeal to you in a particular way. As well as this, they can have a strong influence on public opinion and voting behaviour. It is also possible that the increase in these groups is due to the outdated nature of the democratic system. In a liberal democracy like the UK, high election turnouts are desirable as they are a showpiece of democracy, but the falling levels of participation in term of voting and parties stems from the way politics has changed. The nature of modern politics is built upon centrally concentrated ideologies, and political parties are more obsessed with getting into power rather than sticking to thought out policies. For example, the National Trust has gained around 350,00 members, close to the current Labour party membership numbers. Its large membership allows it to have significantly more influence than if it was a small organisation. This political engagement through the means of joining pressure groups is highly preferred over joining a party in modern day society. Cyber activism is also a growing means of young people expressing their political opinion through social media. With social media growing at a rapid rate, it is hard to ignore its influence over the general public. From this evidence and the fact that there is clearly a shift in the political participation, it can be argued that the UK is suffering from a ‘participation crisis’ to a low extent. People are of touch with traditional politics and times are moving on.

In conclusion, it is somewhat difficult to truly evaluate the situation when one form of political participation completely outweighs the others in terms of importance. At the current point, general elections are the greatest measurement of political participation as they have the most direct influence on activity in the house of commons. Despite immense disillusionment from the electorate, it seems quite unlikely that the democratic system will change in favour of the people. It is obvious the UK is facing some sort of small participation crisis, despite efforts to use other means of political participation to encourage political engagement but, this is not at the fault of the electorate, who are the victims of a clearly flawed structure, and instead, at the hands of the politicians and political parties, and the media.

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