Think Piece by Heather Grabbe for ESPAS 2016 conference: ” In many parts of everyday life, voters are used to a consumer experience where they get instant feedback and personal participation; but party membership, ballot boxes and stump speeches do not offer the same speed, control or personal engagement. The institutions of representative democracy at national and EU level — political parties, elected members, law-making — do not offer the same quality of experience for their ultimate consumers.
This matters because it is causing voters to switch off. Broad participation by most of the population in the practice of democracy is vital for societies to remain open because it ensures pluralism and prevents takeover of power by narrow interests. But in some countries and some elections, turnout is regularly below a third of registered voters, especially in European Parliament elections.
The internet is driving the major trends that create this disconnection and disruption. Here are four vital areas in which politics should adapt, including at EU level:
- Expectation. Voters have a growing sense that political parties and law-making are out of touch, but not that politics is irrelevant. …
- Affiliation. … people are interested in new forms of affiliation, especially through social media and alternative networks. …
- Location. Digital technology allows people to find myriad new ways to express their political views publicly, outside of formal political spaces. …
- Information. The internet has made vast amounts of data and a huge range of information sources across an enormous spectrum of issues available to every human with an internet connection. How is this information overload affecting engagement with politics? ….(More)”