Cynicism about politics is worryingly popular. If political affairs crop up in conversation, a common retort is that you can’t believe anything politicians say. Trust in the whole political process is at a low ebb, the assumption often being that those who seek election are either incompetent, or in it for what they can personally get out of it. Even those who start out with good motives are soon likely to be forced to compromise, their integrity challenged by the system in which they find themselves.
Another complaint is that my opinions don’t count anyway. The jostling for power that goes on appears to have little to do with what I may want or need. “They are all the same” goes the cry. Many question whether voting make any difference at all, and so don’t consider it a worth while thing to do. Complacency reinforces this, as if life is going to carry on much as it always has, regardless of who is in power, what’s the point of bothering?
Some wariness towards those who hold political office is healthy, but a deep-seated disdain for politics, or disinterest in it, is dangerous. It leads to a detachment from public life, or, insofar as opinions are expressed, to a negative spirit of criticism and condemnation.
Politics is how collective decisions are made, and if respect and participation in that process is lost, social cohesion is bound to crumble and democracy itself struggle to survive. Democratic government is fragile, and should not be taken for granted. It needs to be defended against the forces that threaten it. In many parts of the world, disillusionment with democracy is growing and authoritarian ways of doing politics are becoming more popular, with all the risks that entails.
It is important to recognize some of the reasons for this disillusionment. In a fast moving world, democracy acts frustratingly slowly, and sometimes wastefully. National governments inevitably struggle to tackle huge and complex challenges that are global in character. The many sources of news and information available these days mean that the truth is hard to find. The intrusive scrutiny and hostility everyone in public life has to endure puts off many decent people from entering politics.
All of which makes the defence of democracy even more important. At the heart of this defence is the principle that politics matters. The way collective decisions are made and implemented is important, because, in the end, it affects the lives of everyone.
At the heart of this defence should be a greater emphasis on political education at school, clear standards of integrity demanded of all those who enter the profession of politics and decision making being kept at as local a level as possible. Cynicism and complacency are corrosive, and we all suffer if they dominate our public life.
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