Essay On Political Dropout

Some may argue that political drop-outs are a good thing. Removing individuals who lack the knowledge to make informed political decisions benefits society as it leaves the informed and engaged citizens to make the decisions. This is problematic as it generally leaves power in the hands of the elite, whose interest is not in the benefit of all citizens. The political world would become stratified and become more of an oligarchy than a democratic system. By looking at the factors that cause political drop-outs interventions can be formed to target these areas to invigorate political participation and strengthen democracy. (SOURCE)

Understanding the political knowledge of drop-outs or lack thereof can provide a basis of intervention. There has been a decline in civic literacy and politics is a topic that has been …show more content…
When parties allocate resources to demographics that actually do go out to vote, specifically older people and ignore the interest of young people, this can be a source of tension. This also may become a cycle that reproduces itself generationally. Voting is a habitual action and if it is not established early, ideally the first election a citizen is able to participate in, than you may lose that voter as a drop-out for their rest of their lives. (SOURCE) The IRPP says “we know that the decline in turnout was due almost entirely to the failure of those reaching voting age in the last decade to vote in numbers comparable to earlier generations”. (SOURCE) On the whole the interest of young and old people aligns with one another but the younger voters are less likely to be partisan because they rarely identify with existing parties. Since these parties do not address issues and policy that align with their views, youths give up all together. This group is highly opinionated but there is a frustration about the lack of representation in formal institutions that reflect their