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The September 2003 study of the United Kingdom electorate performed by The Electoral Commission has shown the constantly increasing voter turnout within not only the United Kingdom but also the European Union as a whole. Nowadays, when we all are approaching the 2004 elections, the community should become more and more concerned about the ideas on how to increase the activity of the electorate, its social responsibility and eventually lower the turnout in the upcoming elections. The mentioned study provides the examples of several of the main reasons for the recent increase in the electorate turnout, which are supported by the research and statistical data for these periods. Though the findings of the researchers do not directly provide clear suggestions on the ways of how to cope with the problem, however having analysed the reasons for the increasing turnout, I am able to generate several ideas on how ITC can assist in overcoming the problem of voter apathy in the United Kingdom. When addressing the question we should first analyse the reasons for the past decline in the electorate activity and find the underlying factors, which are causing such behaviour among British voters. The first reason for the apathy is the common belief of the most of the people that one single vote will not make a big difference.
The underlying factors for such a belief is simple the voter has lost the confidence and faith in the fairness of the political system. Many of voters in the United Kingdom think that no matter what, the political decisions within the country will still be made by Tony Blair or Gordon Brown. The 2003 issue with the war in Iraq has only supported such a notion. Having the absolute majority of the countrys population being strongly against the war, the administration of the UK, leaded by Blair has made a decision to support the United States intrusion onto the territory of Iraq.
It is quite clear that after such an occasion the people will tend to be losing the faith in the adequacy of the political system of the UK. Even though there are definitely people present in the parliament (who were elected by the voters for the purpose of representing the will of the British society on the international arena) very little is heard from them about their activity. The lost feedback between the electorate and elected representatives leads to the growing dissatisfaction with the governmental authorities and increasing voting apathy. Each citizen f the United Kingdom must cme t believe that despite the thousands f elections that are nt decided by ne vte his r her vte des make a difference. It is the faith in the political voting system that needs t be reserved. There are several ways that ICT can assist in overcoming the problem.
However, the main (and to my point of view the most effective one) is the involvement of the UK society into the political life of the country. It might sound old-fashioned but simple publicity can do well in this case. Parties interested in increasing the voters showing up at the election sites should consider providing plenty information on what is the purpose of the elections, who are the candidates, what they stand for, how will the situation in the country change, and what are the ways for the people to control the conformity of the elected to what was promised during the pre-election campaign. The information regarding all of the above should be provided at the lowest of the cost method. It is absolutely understood that the voter should not be paying for this kind of the information; more to it, the voter should be provided the information in such a way that it does not disturb or annoy him or her. Of course there are many other ways to increase the awareness and responsibility of the electorate.
Though the assuring of the electorate in the necessity of the voting is very important and is a core in the pre-election period, the introduction of the modern technologies to the election process can provide much benefit. One of the latest developments in the sphere of the political science and technologies is the introduction of so-called e-democracy. E-Democracy is a new way of introducing all layers of the society to the political life of the country. It is a simple mean of providing the information about the latest political initiatives within the country at a very low cost and in the real-time manner. E-democracy is an Internet based development, which allows the electorate (and simply the people interested in the domestic or international politics) to become acquainted, comment, and discuss the government policies and proposals online. One of the greatest things about e-democracy is its exposure to the great number of the people without being annoying.
The idea of its promotion is very simple: once some people interested in the politics within the country are being introduced to e-democracy, they will encourage people around them to take a look at the concept. Having introduced many people for even a short period of time to the service the e-democracy can become alive and provide for the continuous growth and development of the project. The politics is not being a boring subject anymore. The discussion of serious documents and legislative projects is becoming interactive and with the direct participation of the electorate in the process. The part taking in forming the next legislative document of the country will attract more people to the voting sites.
The people will be interested in defending their ideas and beliefs, and eventually will vote for something they believe in. Thus the democracy will become more democratic. On the other hand the social awareness of about the political issues within the country will rise. Having felt that one can change the course of the events, people will become more attracted to the voting sites, and therefore naturally resolve the problem of the electorate turnout.
Besides, in the nearest future the e-democracy project proposes to implement the e-voting module. With the help of distant voting many people who were avoiding the voting sites will be giving their votes for the candidates right from their homes or workplaces. It is expected that introduction of the e-voting will increase the percentage of the voted population more than twice compared to the one we are having today. As seen from the above, e-democracy is another step on the path of increasing the political awareness of the society, and, hopefully, one of the things that will help the United Kingdom in fighting the problem of the electorate turnout.
Reference: The Electoral Commission. Public opinion and the 2004 elections. Found online at: web In the Service of Democracy. Found online at: web
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Research essay sample on Pre Election United Kingdom
