Where Have All the Voters Gone?

Bromley, Catherine; Curtice, John

doi:10.4135/9781849208659.n7

Cited by 31 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…So perhaps we should stop looking for explanations as to why education makes no difference to turnout and instead accept that, in Britain at least, voting is not after all that demanding an act, and is certainly one that the less well educated can undertake perfectly well. However, if we accept this line of argument, it not only means that rising levels of educational attainment are no guarantee of higher turnout, but that they are also little defence either against other forces that might discourage electoral participation (Heath and Taylor, 1999;Bromley and Curtice, 2002;Franklin, 2002). And, if this is so, one may question how far innovations such as the inclusion of classes in civic education on the English national curriculum can be expected to increase turnout either.…”

Section: Electoral Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of the increase in educational attainment has in fact been wholly negated by changes in the level of personal efficacy within our educational groups, changes that are perhaps a response to the drop that has occurred in the extent to which people believe the political system is able and willing to respond to demands for change that may be made of it (Curtice and Jowell, 1997: 153;Bromley et al, 2001;Bromley and Curtice, 2002).…”

Section: Personal Efficacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And, finally, we consider whether there is any evidence that education has come to matter more in determining who participates. In so doing, we are not aiming to provide a full account of the recent decline in electoral turnout (see Bromley and Curtice, 2002), or to explain why people protest (Marsh, 1977;Barnes and Kaase, 1979;Parry et al, 1992). Rather, we seek to examine what impact, if any, one of the major changes of the last twenty years has had on patterns of political participation.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Is There a Crisis of Political Participation?

Curtice¹,

Seyd²

2003

British Social Attitudes: Continuity and Change Over Two Decades

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There appears to be a crisis of political participation in Britain. Turnout at the last UK general election was, at 58 per cent, lower than at any other general election since 1918. Moreover, voters have been reluctant to go to the polls in every other kind of election held over the last six years. Unsurprisingly, then, politicians of all political persuasions have been asking themselves how they can 're-engage' the public with the political process.This decline in electoral participation might seem particularly surprising given one of the key social changes to have occurred in Britain over the last two decades -the expansion of educational attainment. Education is supposedly a 'democratic good', meant to encourage adherence to democratic values, a sense of political competence and thus a greater propensity to vote (Almond and Verba, 1963;Wolfinger and Rosenstone, 1980). As Almond and Verba's study of The Civic Culture put it:The educated classes possess the keys to political participation and involvement while those with less education are less well equipped.As Table 5.1 shows, in the mid-1980s nearly half the adult British population had no educational qualifications. Now, less than a quarter are in this position. Over the same period, the proportion with a degree has more than doubled (to 16 per cent), while those with at least an A level or its equivalent now comprise well over two-fifths of the adult population (rather than just over a quarter as they did two decades ago). So Britain has experienced a substantial increase in overall levels of educational attainment, something we might expect to produce an increase in electoral participation. That the very opposite seems to have happened is nothing less than a 'puzzle of participation ' (Brody, 1978).

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Section: Electoral Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Personal Efficacymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is There a Crisis of Political Participation?

Curtice¹,

Seyd²

2003

British Social Attitudes: Continuity and Change Over Two Decades

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“…In reality party positions are rarely as polarised as this, as evidenced by the literature on welfare pluralism (Beresford and Croft 1983). Underlining this point, over the past two decades, UK politics has been marked by the rise of valence politics as the main parties have converged towards the political centre-ground (Bara andBudge 2001, Bromley andCurtice 2002). It is in this context that sport has emerged as a significant policy arena as parties increasingly compete on valence issues.…”

Section: Electoral Politics and The Formative Phase Of Sport Policy-mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electoral discourse and the party politicization of sport in multi-level systems: analysis of UK elections 1945–2011

Chaney

2014

International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics

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“…This is integral to the rise of valence politics in the UK as the main parties have converged towards the political centre-ground (Bara and Budge, 2001;Bromley and Curtice, 2002). One consequence is the increasing party politicization of rail transport.…”

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confidence: 99%

Mixed-methods analysis of political parties׳ manifesto discourse on rail transport policy: Westminster, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish elections 1945–2011

Chaney

2014

Transport Policy

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This study addresses a key lacuna by exploring the role of electoral politics in shaping public policy on rail transport in (quasi-)federal systems of governance. Attention centres on issue-salience and policy framing in party manifestos in state-wide and regional elections. The findings reveal a significant rise in issue-salience in parties' Westminster election programmes; with Right -and Left-ofcentre parties increasingly advocating mixed economy approaches to rail transport as part of the wider rise of 'valence politics'. The analysis also reveals how devolution may lead to the territorialisation of rail transport policy. In contrast to parties' Westminster programmes, regional manifesto discourse evidences a general rejection of neo-liberalism and stronger support for state control and/or not-forprofit rail operators. Overall, the findings underline the formative nexus between political representation and public policy -and show how, in the wake of state decentralisation, policy framing is contingent on 'regional' socio-economic factors and party politics, including state-building by civic nationalist parties. (Note to editors: the following are the only changes madeotherwise the revised paper is the same as that reviewed by the referees). Reviewer #1:This paper analyses election material from the main political parties since 1945, to see both whether the emphasis given to rail policy has changed over time and whether devolution of rail decisions to Scotland and Wales has affected coverage of rail policy. However, it must be said that many of the statements analysed are of broad philosophical approach (e.g. it is good to involve the private sector) rather than specific proposals. It finds that attention to rail policy has increased over time and that what each political party says does vary between countries since devolution. However, it must be said that many of the latter differences either may be because of geographical differences (HSR may have more relevance to Scotland than to Wales) or because they deal with details (e.g. availability of discounted fares, wifi) rather than broad approach. Author ResponseI am very grateful to the reviewer for the helpful and constructive comments and suggestions. Regarding the first point: "many of the statements analysed are of broad philosophical approach… rather than specific proposals". Yes, the aim here is to use a well-established methodology (applied across a broad range of other policy areas, and issues -but not, to date, rail policy) of looking at the language parties use in attempting to appeal to voters. This offers insight into the political origins of policy and the underpinning motivations behind state policy on rail transport (seen as an aspect of social welfare/ affordable transport for all -or environmentally beneficial -or means of boosting economic development through improved infrastructure, etc. This complements traditional analyses of policy implementation for example. I"ve taken care to summarise the importance of this approach one th...

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Where Have All the Voters Gone?

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

Is There a Crisis of Political Participation?

Is There a Crisis of Political Participation?

Electoral discourse and the party politicization of sport in multi-level systems: analysis of UK elections 1945–2011

Mixed-methods analysis of political parties׳ manifesto discourse on rail transport policy: Westminster, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish elections 1945–2011

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