“What explains the decline in voter turnout in most democracies in thelast few decades? In your answer, consider one or two explanations that youconsider most important and empirical evidence supporting or rejecting them”.According to Dalton (1988) “citizen involvement in the political process is essential for democracy to be viable and meaningful”. They suggest that “limited political involvement is a sign of weakness because it is only through dialogue and participation that societal goals are defined and achieved in a democracy. Voting, though it requires little initiative and cooperation with others, is the most visible and widespread form of citizen involvement”[1]. Over the past three decades, voter turnout in the UK and other democratic countries has decreased significantly, I will discuss what I consider to be two of the most important explanations for the decline in voter turnout across various democratic countries. These being political disengagement and dissatisfaction and the reduction in the value of voting. I have chosen these due to the fact there is significant empirical evidence supporting both explanations, as will be explored below. The first part of this essay will explain some statistics regarding the levels of voter turnout, following this, I will discuss the idea that political disengagement and dissatisfaction could be considered one of the most significant contributors to the decline in voter turnout and how the depleting value of the vote can cause people to refrain from voting altogether. Ademocratic country is defined as being a country in which “all eligiblecitizens have the right to participate in the political system, either directlyor indirectly when it comes to making the decisions that will affect them”[2]. Thedecline in voter turnout throughout democratic countries in the last few decadesis fast becoming a problem due to the fact democracy depends on voterparticipation. The decline in voter turnout can be noted in the UK where voterturnout reduced from 75.3% in 1987 to 68.7% in 2017, suffering substantial dipsthroughout this period, as was found in 2001 in which voter turnout dropped to59.4%. Figure 1. A line graph showing the decline in general election turnout since 1945. Taken from: Ukpolitical.info. Voter turnout at UK general elections 1945 – 2017 | UK Political Info. [online] Available at: http://www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout45.htm. The same thing can be seen in otherdemocratic countries. For example, voter turnout in the US during Mid-TermElections has decreased from 60.89% of registered voters voting and 41.07% ofvoting age voters voting in 1986 to 54.16% of registered voters voting and39.51% of voting age voters voting in 2014. The same cannot be said forPresidential elections, where we see an increase from 76.98%/56.28% voting in1988 and 78.76%/60.52% voting in 2016. However, the most recent statistics doshow a decline from 2004 onwards. One possible explanation for this could bethe voters feel as though a Presidential election is more important, it gainsmore media coverage and affects the whole country. Therefore, it would beuseful to consider some of the reasons for this selective decline in voterturnout.Figure 2: Levels of voter turnout in US midterm elections from 1982 to 2014. Taken from: Sos.wa.gov. [online] Available at: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx Figure 3: Levels of voter turnout in US presidential elections from 1980 to 2016. Taken from: Sos.wa.gov. [online] Available at: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx. The firstof my proposed explanations for the decline in voter turnout is the public’s politicaldisengagement and dissatisfaction. Before I continue, it is important todistinguish between voter apathy and voter alienation in order to determinewhether there is a decline in voter turnout due to an increased lazinessthroughout the public or due to the public feeling as though they can no longerrelate to their politicians, my first point of discussion focusses on thelatter. Crewe et al (1992) suggested that apathy indicates a lack personalresponsibility, a “passivity, andindifference for political affairs. It denotes the absence of a feeling ofpersonal obligation to participate. However, voter alienation implies an active rejection of the political system”. Thealienation the public are feeling when it comes to politics was found by Dr. Ruth Foxto stem from the fact that the parties we have to choose from are “all thesame, the politicians are all the same, they are not like us”[3]. Thiscould mean that the public can no longer identify with the candidates they arevoting for. Politicians have become so detachedfrom the average person, that the public cannot find any logical reason to wantto vote them into power and consequently, do not vote at all. This could beconsidered one of the most crucial factors to contributeto a declining voter turnout because the aim of an elected Government is torepresent the public’s views inParliament to ensure that the decisions made, and laws created, benefit the country in the most inclusive waypossible. Therefore, when the public feel as though they are not beingaccurately represented in Parliament they can feel alienated which in turn,promotes disinterest and a feeling of disengagement among the public withregard to politics. The British Academy stated that “British society hasbecome, for the most part, disengaged with politics…In the case of Britishvoters, it is important to understand the scale and depth of theirdisenchantment”. This can be considered important because if we can engage thepublic in politics through their MPs and other representatives, this wouldsubsequently improve voter turnout.The secondof my proposed explanations for declining levels of voter turnout is the ideathat the public no longer places anyvalue in voting, believing that their votes will not make a difference. TheHouse of Commons Political and Constitutional Committee found this especially “whenthe member of the public lived in an area in which there was a safe seat, thatis, where the party of the elected representative was unlikely to change[4]”. Thevalue of voting can be considered an important explanation for the decline invoter turnout because if the public doesnot feel as if their vote will make a difference, or produce the outcome theyprefer, they will be less inclined to even try. It was suggested by IoannisKolovos and Phil Harris that voters “weigh up the costs and benefits of theiractions, meaning that the public will turn up to vote when they consider thatthe benefits of such an action outweigh the costs[5]”. Anexample of how the public have been made to feel disengaged with politics canbe seen in the last election in which theGreen Party and UKIP had significant support, resulting in a considerablenumber of votes. Under a different political system,these parties would have won 85 seats. Unfortunately, for the people that votedfor them, the Green Party and UKIP only gained 1 seat each. Therefore, itappears that when people see that a significant percentage of the electorateare completely ignored due to the current political system, they give up onvoting entirely due to the fact they think that their votes will not make adifference leading them to believe that the actof voting had little benefits. This could explain the decline in voter turnoutin most democracies in the last few decades. There are many factors that can explain the decline in voter turnout in most democracies over the last few decades. In this essay, I have focused on and provided empirical evidence for what I believe to be two of the most important; political disengagement and dissatisfaction and the reduction in the value of voting. The need for politics to be more inclusive and for the public to feel as though they can relate to their representatives would considerably help the rates of voter turnout as they would feel as though their vote means something and would contribute to an outcome that would benefit themselves as well as others. They would also feel more involved in the political process which, in turn would allow them to restore the value of their vote because as the public begins to feel more engaged and satisfied with their representative in Parliament, they would place a value on their vote as they would know that it could potentially make a difference. REFERENCES:1) Anon, (2018). [online] Available athttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/228215776_What_Affects_Voter_Turnout[Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].2) Crewe, I 1992, ‘Changing votes and unchanging voters’,Electoral Studies, 11, 4, p. 335-345, Scopus®, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 January20183) Dalton, Russell J., Citizen Politics: Public Opinion andPolitical Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, 5th edition (WashingtonDC: CQ Press, 2008), p. 37. International Institute for Democracy and ElectoralAssistance, “Voter Turnout Database”, International IDEA website.4) E-International Relations. (2018). Why is Turnout atElections Declining Across the Democratic World? [online] Available at http://www.e-ir.info/2012/09/27/why-is-turnout-at-elections-declining-across-the-democratic-world/[Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].5) Hooghe, M, & Kern, A. 2017, ‘The tipping point betweenstability and decline: Trends in voter turnout, 1950-1980-2012’, EuropeanPolitical Science, 16, 4, p. 535-552, Scopus®, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 December2017.6) Kolovos, I. and Harris, P. (n.d.). Voter Apathy in BritishElections: Causes and Remedies. pp.2-3.7) Kolovos, I. and Harris, P. (n.d.). Voter Apathy in BritishElections: Causes and Remedies. Pp.3.8) Lop.parl.ca. (2018). Democracy Defined | Our Country, OurParliament. [online] Available at:https://lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/Education/ourcountryourparliament/html_booklet/democracy-defined-e.html[Accessed 12 Jan. 2018].9) Publications.parliament.uk. (2014). [online] Available at:https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmpolcon/232/232.pdf[Accessed 11 Jan. 2018].10) Sos.wa.gov. (2018). [online] Available at:https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx [Accessed 11 Jan.2018].11) Southwell, PL 2008, ‘THE EFFECT OF POLITICAL ALIENATIONON VOTER TURNOUT, 1964-2000’, Journal Of Political & Military Sociology,36, 1, pp. 131-145, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 January 2018.(http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=13872f22-38b9-460a-bd0c-4953cc4c2455%40pdc-v-sessmgr01)12) Stuart, C. (2016). Why is the turnout for UK elections solow?. [online] Quora. Available at:https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-turnout-for-UK-elections-so-low [Accessed 10Jan. 2018].13) Ukpolitical.info. (2018). Voter turnout at UK generalelections 1945 – 2017 | UK Political Info. [online] Available at:http://www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout45.htm [Accessed 11 Jan. 2018].ONLINE SOURCESReasons for low voter engagement: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmpolcon/232/23205.htmWritten evidence submitted by Tim Knight (VUK 69) http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/8287.htmlWritten evidence submitted by 38 Degrees (VUK 50) http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7510.htmlWritten evidence submitted by Ian Sheppard (VUK 51) http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7575.htmlWritten evidence submitted by Michael Yates (VUK 53): “Whydoes the UK experience low voter engagement” http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7880.htmlWritten evidence submitted by David H Smith (VUK 59):Reasons for and impact of low voter engagement. http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/voter-engagement-in-the-uk/written/7970.html[1]Voter Apathy in British elections: Causes and Remedies, pg2-3[2] DemocracyDefined | Our Country, Our Parliament.[3]House of Commons Political and Constitutional Committee: Voter engagement inthe UK (2014-15) S3, Pg. 7[4] Writtenevidence from 38 Degrees [VUK50], Ian Sheppard [VUK51], Michael Yates[VUK 53], David H Smith [VUK59], Tim Knight[VUK 69],[5]Voter apathy in British elections: Causes and RemediesGet Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more