POLITICAL APATHY 2

Political Apathy

The core principle of democratic societies is that governments work for their citizens.
Laws and policies that governments enact are what their citizens desire and express through
participation in various democratic/political processes such as voting and attending political
rallies. Therefore, in the absence of such political processes, there is very little government
accountability and the policies and laws that governments come up with are often not in the
interests of the citizens.
Unfortunately, many democratic societies experience low civic engagement especially
among youths, minority groups, and the poor. There are various reasons why this is the case. One
of them is a feeling among citizens that their voices do no matter. When citizens feel this way,
they are unlikely to get engaged in political/civic activities because they feel their participation
will not result in the desired changes. Another reason for low civic engagement is lack of
political and civic skills. These skills include organization, communication, and networking.
Lack of these skills handicaps many citizens who would wish to engage more in the political
activities of their country and make them to lose interest in such activities.
There are various approaches that can be taken to increase interest in politics in
democratic societies. The most effective one is voter education. Through voter education,
citizens learn the importance of being politically active and the various ways in which they can
increase their civic engagement and push for policies that they think are beneficial not just to
themselves but also to the society in general.
Low civic engagement is a great danger to democracies. It results in many voices being
unheard in public policy development and reduces accountability of leaders. Through approaches

POLITICAL APATHY 3
such as greater voter education, democratic societies can significantly increase political interest
of their citizens.