The Ontario provincial election took place on October 7th. With only 49.2% of Ontario's population voting, it was the worst voter turnout in history. Interestingly, this decline in electoral participation is not uniform across voting age groups. Rather, it is voting decline in 18-29 year old demographic that accounts for the majority of the total decline. So why the apathy? Why the disenfranchisement?
This apathy towards the electoral process and politics more generally is reflective of politics as a niche interest. I believe that to the youth of today, involvement in politics is considered to be analogous to involvement in an extra-curricular activity: one partakes in it if one is interested, but opts to do other things should one not fancy intramural basketball, the debate club, or the student council. To this demographic, political involvement is a choice, an option; it is not a responsibility, a civic duty. Here lies the problem with politics-as-extracurricular-activity: there are many more interesting extra-curricular activities to partake in.
The media, fearful of declining political viewership, have sought to make this extra-curricular activity more exciting. In-depth coverage, real analysis, deliberation and discussion – the media as an information commons – has been replaced by a new form of political entertainment. Politics in the media has become a cheap action flick, with coverage that barely scratches the surface of most issues and a platform that compromises true discussion and discourse in favour of short youtube style clips. But the media are simply meeting the demand. The youth of today will not watch a real debate; imagine if CNN were there to broadcast the notoriously long-winded 1858 Lincoln and Douglass debates; they would only be able to talk about the fullness of Lincoln's beard and the sweat on Doug lass’ brow for so long. The youth of today might, however, watch a 30-second clip summarizing one.
So what do we do? As a 22 year old, a member of this apathetic entertainment seeking demographic, I believe that the solution lies in changing the political brand. If politics can once again be viewed as a means to enact change, to voice one's opinion, to share one's stories, to fight for what one believes in, this will go a long way to correcting its extra-curricular status. Partisan politics and recent events like the recession have not helped facilitate this perceptual adjustment. It is an uphill battle, but if the political establishment can convince the youth of today that they are not a school club but a vehicle of accomplishment and change, the media will follow, and perhaps then political involvement will once again regain it's place in the minds of today’s youth as a civic responsibility.
