Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobblehead
Perhaps age is an issue.
I know as I have aged I have become more disillusioned with the current systems. If that is a general trend then with the overall aging of the population come an increasing disconnect.
Also, it seems to me that media has more of an agenda than it did in the past. It is more obvious in the US, but even in Canada media deregulation initially seemed to lead to more choice, but through time there has been a media consolidation. This has coloured the public perception of politics and politicians.
And finally, I think people become jaded when they don't see or hear from the representative that they are voting for. I rarely hear about Art Hanger. The only real time he made the news with any frequency was during the Stockwell Day revolt. Other than that, I get a couple fliers in the mail where he rails against the Liberal (still), but doesn't have any vision. Same on the provincial level. Other than the portable signs advertising the Stampede BBQ, I never hear a word about Shiraz Sheriff. It really makes me question what they personally are doing to deserve my vote, or if a monkey trained to stand when the party whip tells them to stand might not be as good a representative and only cost a few bananas.
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Ha Bobble...perhaps age is an issue with you, hey
. I know that, generally speaking, political participation increases as you age until you reach a certain age...and then it either plateaus or starts to decline (I can't remember which off the top of my head). So maybe you are starting to get up there
And, I think you hit a point regarding efficacy. Part of it is the "why bother, they don't do much/aren't very responsive/even if I have a great idea they are not going to listen to me oract on it in the first place" type of thing.
Anyways, some people have mentioned that there is a cross-generation effect happening. I.e. people point to education levels increasing, yet unlike in the past, political participation is not increasing alongside it. There has been some research done into this that suggests that this is not so much aboput education levels, but a generational shift/decline in participation. I'm not sure that makes any sense the way I put it, but I have to run out the door now...