Election overload - politics v statesmanship

The UK as a whole has mercifully only held three referenda since the first in 1975 which, like the one in 2016, focused on membership of Europe. The 2011 referendum dealt with a possible change to the voting system and a move toward (rather unimaginatively named) Alternative Voting, based on preferential ballots.

A pervading sense of political overload almost never favours the incumbent. Only those who strongly oppose something about the status quo are likely to engage in any active way. Whatever other issues feature in this campaign, it will be energised by pro- and anti-Brexit emotions.

Remainers lost the referendum and are much more likely to engage the election in an active way, if only to spite the government – and the Labour party – who are now (rightfully, in my view) working towards Brexit.

Meanwhile, in the world of media, the growth of 24/7 dedicated news channels over the past two decades has added to a sense of political overload. These days, even once quiet Sunday mornings are overrun with competing political interview shows, all featuring the same key players week in and week out, ad nauseam. Thankfully we’re not yet forced to endure the shout-fests that feature on many US political programmes, but there is still too much politics.

There is evidence that while TV coverage may historically have broadened the public’s understanding of some issues, it may also have reduced their actual participation in electoral processes.

In an essay on “Television and Voter Turnout”, Stanford University researcher Matthew Gentzkow writes that: “What took place in the years after television’s introduction was not a broadening of the democratic process [in the US], but rather a sharp decline in political participation. Average presidential turnout in both the 1980s and 1990s was lower than in any decade since the 1920s, and outside the South (where a substantial remobilization of Black voters muted the decline) it was lower than in any decade since the 1820s.”

The problem of data overload is exacerbated by the onslaught of material gushing through the pipeline of social and new media.

Two or three generations ago, politics was something that happened largely at the periphery of peoples’ lives. Yes, governance was important but people assumed that for the most part, having being elected on particular platforms, elected politicos would get on with the job.

In most developed countries, four- to five-year terms were considered long enough to give MPs the chance to get something done, yet short enough to allow a change of government if they weren’t living up to expectations.

Today, however, politics is placed front and centre in almost every area of life throughout the year, which all too often breeds ennui in the electorate. This may be especially true among millennial voters, aged in their twenties and early thirties. If the EU Referendum is anything to go by, this highly educated, news-conscious and digitally engaged cohort may be happier to complain about results of elections than to get too involved in the boring and unsexy process of voting itself.

If this is true – the subject needs more study – who can blame them? While the issues facing governments are of vital importance, they appear at times to be tackled by politicos with only enough imagination to see as far as the next election. MPs, it seems, get more excited about elections than governing.

In the 2017 General Election, voter fatigue will play a huge role where public perception and engagement are concerned.

Only opponents of the status quo will feel any real fire in their bellies. And passion is bankable currency in elections, provided people vote with their feet and not simply with their mouths.