CAUSES OF POLITICAL APATHY
Political Apathy is one of the major challenges of democracy. The cause for political apathy is that the people have no significant participation in the political process.
What is Political Apathy? It may define as the situation where the majority of the populace shows feelings of apathy or lack of interest towards politics. It is usually a case where a person shows no interest in the matters and state of politics in his or her country. This means that he or she does not care about political parties, politicians, electoral processes, and governance as a whole. As a result, the people’s political skills atrophy because the system gives them no input into the political process.
There are many causes why people have a lackadaisical attitude towards politics and governance. Here we have listed the Major Causes of Political Apathy in a country.
a. Violence Campaign:Due to the level of violence that always occur during the build-up to elections, most people stay away from electoral process for the safety of their lives and properties.
b. Attitude of Politicians:Large number of people does not like politicians for so many reasons. But the number one cause is that they do not believe in them and see them as thieves, liars, thugs, and people who have no compassion for the populace.
c. Disorder in the Political System: There is so much state of confusion going on in politics and in the government. They include political oppression and victimization, political infighting, tribalism and so on.
d. Current Condition of Governance:This is probably the number one cause for political apathy. The government has failed to provide good leadership and governance for the state, as a result, the level of apathy towards politics and governance has increased.
e. Lack of Trust in Governance:This is different from the dislike of politicians. In this case, this is an issue of not believing in the way of governance and lacking the interest to see governance improve. Most people also have lost hope of better governance and therefore a reason for their political apathy.
f. Hyper-Critical Negative Media: Negative political news coverage and negative political ads create cynicism in many countries, which leads to apathy. News programs do not provide substantive coverage of candidates and their views on issues, offering instead sound clips and opinions from biased panelists. As negative political ads become more mean-spirited and distorted, some people get disgusted and completely disconnect from the political process.
g. Weak Security Measures during Elections: Some people believe that their votes are not secured during elections. This is as a result of the history of snatching of ballot boxes, election rigging, and disruption of voting centers by thugs or at time by electoral personnel. As a result, people do not participate effectively in the voting process.
h. Dishonest Electoral Personnel: At time, most electoral personnel plays patrician politics that is giving favor to one candidate or political party. These and other ills-behavior makes people mind to deviate from involving totally in politics.
i. Rigging of Elections: This is a major cause for the increase in political apathy. Over the years, elections have been plagued with rigging and malpractices. And that is why most people do not believe in elections therefore resulting in political apathy.
j. Political frustration: This denies the people the right to decide the issues they want addressed and select the candidates they want to address them. As a result, the people’s political skills deteriorate because the system gives them no input into the political process.
k. Religious Belief: Some religion organizations have no regards for political process. They see politic as a dirty game. Therefore discourage members from participating in electoral process.