Why People in the UK Not Have Interest in Votes - Essay Example

The paper is to analyze the reason behind the downfall in the turnout of common men in the election and also less interest shown by them in politics. The paper also tries to figure out a few steps which can bring back the interest of the people in politics.
The reason behind people going away from politics/votes:
One of the reasons behind the less turnout of people in politics is the concept of strong government over the representative government. The main focus of the government is to present the country as a strong one in front of the world so sometimes they overlook the basic requirement of the people and therefore people started to lose interest in voting. Another key reason behind the lesser turnout in the UK vote is the failure of the elected people to fulfill their promises. Another theory related to this lesser turnout is the change in the mindset of the voters. People in the UK in the modern age are more worried about policy outcomes than they are with policy commitments. The significantly less turnout in the 2001 UK vote was mainly on the ground of the above reason. The supporters of the Labor party do not want to come out in large numbers to cast their vote just because in their view, “their party fails to "deliver the goods" by improving health care, education, transportation and other vital public services during its first term in office.” (Clarke, Sanders, Stewart &Whiteley; 2002).

Apart from all these factors, some other reasons are also there which play an important role in reducing the turnout in the vote and also pull down the people’s interest in politics. The level of education among the people, political knowledge, efficiency, understanding of civic duty all are also factors that play an important role in pulling down people’s interest in politics. It has been noticed that highly educated people, people who have the knowledge of politics, who come from a political background or are associated with politics directly or indirectly are more reluctant to vote whereas people from the lower middle class, who are just able to manage their daily needs, people in the middle class as well, less educated one are not so much interested in casting vote or join politics (Clarke, Sanders, Stewart & Whiteley 2002).
How to Change People’s mindset:
The first and foremost thing that the UK government has to change is the functioning and governing local authorities. If the government give the authority to the local council to spend public money in consultation with local people and their need then UK people will feel closer to the politics as they can directly convey their problems to the local authorities and those will be solved more quickly. Few other changes like introducing community budget and proper implementation of the same, addressing people’s problems, investing in building, land, machinery development can encourage people more to be associated with politics (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2013). Creating awareness among the young people in the UK about politics and its positive is the responsibility of the UK government. “Bite the Ballot” is one such organization that is working to create awareness among the youth of the UK in schools and colleges about politics.

The way they create awareness in the mind of people especially the young is the key behind their success. If the government authority can co-relate politics with the common daily issues of the people and young men then it is easy to increase the rate of participation of the youth in the voting and also in politics. (Metro, 2014). Thirdly; organizing political debates in schools and colleges to attract young voters, going to the people to listen to their problems, encouraging common people to address their problems and solving those timely and effectively will increase the interest of the common men in politics. This can increase the percentage of turnout in elections in the UK.
Conclusion:
If the UK government and the political people are able to fulfill their election promise, able to create a responsible government which can effectively handle the problem of the common people in the society, allow the general people to get access of the government aid more easily and takes part indirectly in strategizing government policy in the local area –then they will feel more associated with the politics-more so with the formation and development of their society. In this way, the interest of the people about casting their vote and also taking part in the politics-directly or indirectly can be increased in the UK and it will be good for a healthy democracy in the country. Read More