Political apathy

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In political science, political apathy is a lack of interest or apathy towards politics.[1] This includes voter apathy, information apathy[2] and lack of interest in elections, political events, public meetings, and voting.[3]

Voter apathy is a lack of interest among voters in the elections of representative democracies.[4][5][6][7] Political apathy or lack of interest is often cited as a cause of low turnout among eligible voters[8][9][10] in jurisdictions where voting is optional, and the donkey vote where voting is compulsory. This phenomenon occurs to some extent across all countries or entities where citizens are able to vote. Political apathy has led to increased concerns regarding representative democracies because election results do not encompass the entire population who are eligible to vote.

  1. ^ Dean, Dwight G. (January 1, 1965). "Powerlessness and Political Apathy". Social Science. 40 (4): 208–213. JSTOR 41885108.
  2. ^ Harder, Joshua (2008). "Why Do People Vote? A Psychological Analysis of the Causes of Voter Turnout" (PDF). Stanford Journal of Social Issues. 64. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  3. ^ Pasek, Josh. "America's Youth and Community Engagement: How Use of Mass Media is Related to Civic Activity and Political awareness" (PDF).
  4. ^ Garcia, Twiggy (February 24, 2014). "Why young Britons like me are the EU's most apathetic voters | Twiggy Garcia | Comment is free". The Guardian. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  5. ^ Moody, Oliver. "Young Britons are EU's least enthusiastic voters". The Times. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  6. ^ Arnett, George (February 20, 2014). "Is Russell Brand right? Are we disenchanted by politics?". The Guardian. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  7. ^ Grice, Andrew (November 15, 2013). "Apathy? Alienation? How 'disengaged' four in ten voters reject ALL parties". The Independent. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  8. ^ Clark, Tom; Mason, Rowena (December 26, 2013). "Fury with MPs is main reason for not voting – poll". The Guardian. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  9. ^ Abé, Nicola; Amann, Melanie; Feldenkirchen, Markus (September 20, 2013). "The Quixotic Rise of German Non-Voters". Spiegel Online. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "Remedying voter apathy". The Gleaner. Jamaica, VI. January 19, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2014.