Voter's Apathy; A Threat To Our Democracy.

Voter’s Apathy; A Threat To Our Democracy.

Civic engagement in the political process and electoral participation are major indicators of a prospering democracy. However, when citizens are disappointed or frustrated by a pattern of government inaction or corruption, people can feel as if there is little benefit to dedicating their valuable time and resources to political action with limited results. This is when people can suffer from political apathy, or the lack of political engagement.

Political apathy can be due to a variety of reasons, including limiting political participation directly through discriminatory policies or indirectly through slow, inefficient or non-representative bureaucracies. Both direct and indirect methods result in individuals or communities feeling politically disengaged since they believe little will change with their action.

Indirect political apathy through slow, inefficient or non-representative bureaucracies was highlighted in a recent study based out of Nigeria, where researchers surveyed and analysed voter attitudes on political apathy. They discovered four main factors which lead to voter apathy in Nigeria:

Incompetence of the body which ran the electoral process.
Unemployment.
The political environment.
Electoral violence.

Unemployment and the dissatisfaction of the electorate with the job opportunities available to them stems from a larger disapproval of those in authority. Plus, a dangerous and toxic political environment often results in violence which can scare citizens from participating in political action.

However, governance and politics and therefore political apathy occur every year, all year long, not just during election years. Afrobarometer conducted a series of public opinion polls on democracy and governance in Africa in 2013-2014; they found that 32 percent of respondents said they never discuss politics, while only 20 percent of respondents say they frequently discuss politics.

While the number of primary public schools grew 40 percent from 2001 to 2011, reports that private primary schools increased by 1000 percent in that same time period. With many essential services being privatised, community members can feel like they have even less of a stake in politics, and suffer from more political apathy since the government does not provide necessary services.

The consequences of political apathy on communities are wide ranging. Those in positions of power have who face little accountability for their actions or have a low risk of being voted out of office maintain their authority, while citizens rarely see their lives improve.

Authorities with little accountability are more likely to misuse public resources and reinforce discriminatory policies. This eventually reduces citizen’s ability to participate.

For example, the marginalised indigenous Wayuu people have faced a famine which has killed hundreds of children due to the mismanagement of public funds from authorities in La Guajira, Columbia. According to former senator and former governor of La Guajira, Jorge Ballesteros, corruption and misallocation of government resources had greatly contributed to the famine, and only 30 percent of all La Guajira government resources reached the communities. The lack of political willingness of government authorities to help the marginalised indigenous community is a form of political discrimination, and leads to a lack of political engagement of the Indigenous Wayuu people.

In order to spark genuine political action, political and social reforms must take place, including the electoral body, electoral process, and political parties who must work together with citizen support to create safe and approachable environments for all citizens to participate. Citizens deserve to be empowered to make decisions for their communities to improve their lives. They also must see a benefit to participating in governance and see positive impacts of dedicating time and resources in becoming politically engaged.

Get involved, be part of something big and help empower communities in Africa, either through donating or volunteering. Your participation will go a long way to supporting people in need.