Written by Leah Sinclair
While the political landscape in the UK may feel like a badly-scripted television series, it is very much real – the danger of disconnecting from it all is at an all-time high.
If you told me that the current state of the British government was a badly-written plot from a TV show, I’d believe you.
Surely only someone’s imagination could conjure up so much chaos in such a short space of time, which has seen us live through four chancellors, two home secretaries, soon-to-be three prime ministers and the death of a monarch in the space of four months.
It’s the kind of instability that leaves you feeling dazed: the political whiplash of witnessing one major societal shift to the next without having a chance to catch your breath before being dunked beneath the surface and left gasping for air.
When Liz Truss resigned as prime minister after only 45 days in office, it was the latest in a series of unstable political moves that we’ve had to endure and adds to the growing feeling of disconnect that many are experiencing.
When you combine this feeling with a global pandemic and austerity on the rise, you can’t help but feel like we’re at the penultimate season finale of a television show that we all can’t stop watching. The only problem is that this isn’t a television show with fictional characters – and the real-life dangers of dissociating from politics are getting higher and higher but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re all experiencing this overwhelming democratic disconnect.
Democratic disconnect is feeling disconnected from politics to a point where it doesn’t feel real, especially when we’re consuming the majority of our news from the glare of a television screen or scrolling through our mobile phones.
The disconnect is often a trauma response to the onslaught of life-altering news coming in waves one after the other – and it sees no sign of stopping.
“It’s normal to feel overwhelmed in the current climate, having just about come out of the pandemic and we are now all trying to navigate rising fuel costs and astronomical mortgage rates,” says clinical psychologist Suzanne Azer.
“With our health and wellbeing threatened by such fundamental issues over such a long period, we might have less head space to engage with politics.”
A 2020 report from the Centre for the Future of Democracy found that young people’s faith in democratic politics is lower than any other age group and millennials across the world are more disillusioned with democracy than Generation X or baby boomers were at the same age.
With political engagement on the decline and instability on the up, the disconnect is understandable.
“It’s a real possibility that people are disconnecting from politics right now,” says Jon Dean, the associate professor of politics and sociology at Sheffield University.
“After a summer of the Conservative party focusing on themselves, with two leadership contests a mere six weeks apart, it feels as though only a tiny slice of the country has been spoken to. And given the winter ahead will be incredibly tough for large parts of the country – with energy bills still doubling despite the government’s intervention – we’ll likely see high levels of poverty, food bank use, and people losing their homes and it means you can absolutely understand why people feel politics is even more detached from real life than usual.”
Dean adds that while this disconnect is noticeable due to the tumultuous times we’re in, it poses a real threat to the democratic system when we do disengage from politics and can result in real-life ramifications.
“We find that when there is large-scale disengagement from politics, it’s those most at risk who have the most to lose,” warns Dean. “Young people under 30 especially have had it tough over the last decade. First a global recession, then austerity which protected pensioners at the expense of youth services, then a pandemic, where the young stayed at home and put their lives on hold to protect the old – all of these have held back their opportunities.
“Now to face austerity again, as a result largely of bad government, must be so frustrating and alienating. Political and civic participation is a habit, and once lost or not started, can be hard to regain.”
Azur adds that being “bombarded by so much uncertainty” often makes us feel too confused to engage with what is happening at the moment.
“When we feel overwhelmed we are less able to advocate for ourselves and our communities and that is a real cause for concern in the long run,” she adds.
This is further aided by social media which fuels this democratic disconnect. When you’re witnessing the political turmoil through an endless stream of memes and parody-like takes, it can be easier to consume but harder to engage in.
It’s something which has been explored in Max Horkheimer and Theodore Adorno 1944 The Dialectics of Enlightenment. The theorists argue that “the whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry” and that “the familiar experience of the moviegoer, who perceived the street outside as a continuation of the film he has just left, because the film seeks strictly to reproduce the world of everyday perception, has become the guideline of production.”
The blur between what’s real and what’s fake feels harder to decipher right now – and with much of what we experience often feeling like a far cry from reality, disengaging from it all can sometimes be a safe space from all the chaos. But it is important to remain engaged where possible and take small steps to do so if you’re struggling to.
“Despite outcries on social media, we are lucky to have quality news and political coverage every day in the UK,” says Dean. “Taking the time to engage with it, and be critical of it where you disagree, is probably the first key step to being an active citizen.”
Dean adds that another way to reengage with politics is through honing in on what’s going on locally in your area. “What goes on in your local council is incredibly important in terms of the public services you receive, whether schools, bins, or social care. While local government is often held up as boring, learning who your local councillors are and how they are empowered to improve your community, does help people realise the practical ways in which politics shapes their everyday life.”
While burying our heads in the political sand may seem like the more appealing option, it’s important to keep an eye on what is happening in front of our very eyes.
And as we prepare for another prime minister to take the reigns, hopefully, the next “season” of the very chaotic times we’re living in has a lot more stability in it.
Image: Getty
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