AntiPolitics in Britain: Dimensions, Causes and Responses

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Anti-Politics in Britain Dimensions, Causes and
Responses

• Gerry Stoker
• www.soton.ac.uk/ccd

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Some findings about British politics

• 32 claim to never follow accounts of political
  and governmental affairs
• 2 in 10 can name no party leader or any
  government ministry
• 3 in 10 never talk about politics with friends
  and acquaintances
• 53 claimed no membership of the most common
  types of social and political organisations
• 8 in 10 are doubtful of the promises made by
  candidates in elections
• Only 2 claim politics as a preferred leisure
  activity

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Where are the findings from?

• Almond and Verbas The Civic Culture a
  comparative study but with the field work
  conducted in 1959, the first nationwide academic
  study of political attitudes in GB
• Yet AV on the back these findings presented GB
  as having the culture to support, more than any
  other nation, a stable democratic process

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So has anything changed?

• Our understanding of the issue?
• AV confirmed a consensus view among British
  commentators that the system was blessed with
  pragmatism, tolerance
• Challenges to AVs understanding of democracy
  with its celebration of political apathy and
  disinterest
• We aim to repeat Civic Culture survey investigate
  to compare GB in 1959 with GB in 2009 to throw
  some light on the nature of anti-politics in GB
• But ahead of that I aim here to draw some
  comparisons based on our existing knowledge

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Citizens 1959 compared to 2009

• The relationship of British citizens to their
  political system has, arguably in important
  respects, got worse in a way that would
  disappoint AV and theorists with less of an
  elitist approach to democracy
• Anti-politics is strong in GB and presents a
  significant challenge along several dimensions
• Look at shifts in political attitudes
• Changes in political behaviour
• Impact of changes in political institutions

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Attitude shifts less confident about influence

• AV found in 1959 high levels of civic
  competence 78 could do something about an
  unjust local regulation and 62 making the same
  claim about an unjust national regulation
• In 2007, only two-fifths (38) of respondents to
  the Citizenship Survey felt they could influence
  decisions in their local area and one-fifth (20)
  of people felt they could influence decisions
  affecting Great Britain

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More alienated from the system

• In 1959 nearly half the British sample
  spontaneously mentioned the system of government
  and political institutions as a matter of pride
• In the 2008 Citizens Audit asked Which of these
  statements best describes your opinion on the
  present system of governing Britain?
• 2 Works extremely well and could not be
  improved
• 30 Could be improved in small ways but mainly
  works well
• 62 Could be improved quite a lot or great deal
  38
• Dont know 6

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Speculation not trust but loss of faith in the
system

• Not an issue of trusting politicians or standards
  
• A new measure in the Survey of public attitudes
  towards conduct in public life 2008 allows
  respondents to say how much they trust office
  holders to tell the truth, rather than simply
  whether or not they trust them to do so.
• 44 per cent saying that they would trust
  government ministers a lot or a fair amount to
  tell the truth.
• The corresponding figure for MPs is 45 per cent
  and local councillors is 57 per cent. And your
  local MP 63 per cent
• Not as good as doctors 95 and 91 per cent

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Changing political behaviours

• Less likely to vote pattern of decline post war
  from more than 80 in 1950s to round 60 in 21st
  century
• Consistent and fall loss of voting habit
• Less likely to be a member of political party or
  hold partisan commitment
• Just as likely or not to be a member of an
  organization but .
• AV describe activism as engaging with
  like-minded individuals in a group. Pattie in
  2004 refer to the growth of individualistic
  engagement

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Changes in attitude and behaviour are reflected
in new social divisions

• Less gender differentials, greater social class
  differentials
• Age remains ( we think) a major predictor of
  (dis)engagement in formal politics
• Ethnic minorities and political engagement a
  complex picture

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Propensity to vote (2008 audit)

• Male 53 Female 52
• 18-24 23
• AB Social Class 66
• DE Social Class 34

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Changes in institutional context

• Political institutions more regulated less
  politically autonomous
• Rising EU
• Declining local government
• Changing media practice
• Rise of nationalism and devolved government

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Dimensions

• Complex pattern of change voting decline serious
  and sustained
• Significant social divisions
• Never been that trusting of politicians but now
  less confident of the system and much less
  confident of influence
• Better educated population less naïve but more
  demanding
• Formal landscape of politics thin and
  undernourished
• A strong anti-politics climate

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Causes of anti-politics

• The collapse of formal politics has left a
  massive gap in which anti-politics has grown
• We have become more alienated and more divorced
  from politics and at the same time more demanding
  of politics
• The political class have helped to create this
  situation by their lack of belief in politics and
  collective action

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Citizens left on the sidelines by the
professionalization of politics

• Politics in all its forms has become
  professionalized and specialized
• The rise of party cartels
• The emergence of check-book interest groups
• The professionalization of event and protest
  politics

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Politics as collective process is squeezed by a
more intensely individualized culture

• Politics is centralized form of decision-making
  and quite careless of your interests and concerns
  as an individual
• Politics requires sustained dialogue, it is prone
  to failure
• Politics involves muddling through on both policy
  making and implementation
• Doing politics is bound to create some frustration

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Politicians practising the art of anti-politics

• All the main parties have embraced significant
  elements of an anti-politics position. They
  attack each other over sleaze, funding, trust and
  make constant claims about the mendacity of their
  opponents.
• Labour in government is full of the virtues of
  taking decisions out of politics.
• The Tories-the natural party of government in the
  twentieth century- presents itself as an
  anti-politics party, offering a populist embrace
  of society, community and individuals ahead of
  politics and the state.
• The Liberals have manoeuvred themselves into the
  position of the party of permanent opposition.

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Not a solution

• We all want a lot more participation
• The Power Inquiry position and the half-soaked
  response of the Government
• Bringing AV back in a question of balance

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Solutions A politics for amateurs

• Re-engage citizens ( and educate them) by
  providing opportunities for active involvement in
  political choices
• Restructure formal and especially representative
  politics
• Make politics more political
• Take social divisions in political engagement
  very seriously

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Solutions representative politics

• Why representation matters (because people have
  only so much time)
• Socially representative ethically sustained and
  competitive
• Making representation a dialogue a verb not a
  noun
• Developing local capacity and global institutions
  

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Bringing politics back in

• Bonfire of quangos
• The potential of IT
• Giving citizens real choices