Casino capitalism has damaged democracy

The recent Meath by-election was a very interesting one, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the main party of government managed to have a candidate elected. Granted there were very specific and tragic circumstances in this case but it must still be seen as a significant achievement.

 

Secondly, we saw Labour completely and utterly decimated. Those within the party must surely now engage in intense soul-searching regarding the future direction of the party and if there will be a future at all.

The third thing of note was the resurgence of Fianna Fáil. They have not reached the levels of support they enjoyed in their halcyon days of yore but clearly the taint of years in power is beginning to fade. The significant vote received by independents and smaller parties reflects what many people have been saying for quite some time now, that people are eager for something new in the aftermath of so much misery.

The most noteworthy and worrying thing about the by-election was the low turnout. In total, just 37% of the electorate entitled to vote exercised their democratic right. This is not just low, this is dire and raises the question of whether the elected candidate has in fact got a valid mandate to represent the people of the constituency at all.

Independents and smaller parties received a larger share of this 37% than they usually do and this must be taken to represent a protest vote. The fact that the much larger protest took the form of a total disengagement with the political process at all must surely mark a serious problem for politicians and the wider population.

Labour’s Pat Rabbitte claimed that Labour voters protested by staying away rather than switching allegiances at the ballot box. I’m not sure this is something to be proud of, if it’s true. It would indicate that Labour voters have been so sickened and disgusted by what their party has done while in power that they have been put off politics altogether.
The point might well have a grain of truth given that Sinn Féin, a possible left-wing vote for some disaffected Labour voters, didn’t have a good campaign. Given the collapse of the Labour vote, they would have been hoping to mop up far more than they did.

The punishment meted out to Labour makes the Fine Gael success all the more impressive. Certainly, the circumstances surrounding the need for a by-election must be acknowledged but Fine Gael is the main party in a government that has been dishing out extraordinary austerity for the past number of years and will continue to do so as long as they remain in power.

Perhaps what has been revealed is a deep and powerful masochism in the psyche of the Fine Gael voter. It is hard to see anybody other than the most ardent and extreme masochist wanting more pain than is already being administered but to each their own.

It should be pointed out that while Britain is also experiencing a recession, it is nothing compared to that being endured in Ireland, despite that fact last winter’s elections to select newly established police commissioners were a new low in democratic engagement. The British Electoral Commission reported this month that just 15.1% of the electorate took part in the vote. This makes the Meath by-election figure seem very respectable but raises the question of what the current crises caused by casino capitalism has done to democracy.

In our lighter moments, many of us are wont to joke that politicians are useless and do nothing for anyone except themselves but of course this is not true. Politicians, whatever we think of them, make the decisions that affect all of us on a daily basis and shape the futures our children will inherit.

Much as we might disdain them, they have a massive influence on our lives, so taking a role in selecting them is one of the most important things we can do. It can of course feel like our single vote can never make a difference but as we operate a system of democracy, we must engage with it.

The next electoral test will be the local and European elections and it will be very interesting to see how much engagement this poll will generate. It is possible that people will want to either embrace the Europeans in the hope that some change can be brought about or reject anything that has to do with parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg.

What Labour can do to salvage something approaching a reasonable vote and stave off annihilation is unclear but the party must do something. Given the extent to which it has been compromised by entering the coalition, it is difficult to know what it can do. Fine Gael might not find voters in other parts of the country as generous as those in Meath but I’m sure the party is more than aware of that fact. The Government will be dishing out the pain between now and the elections so there is a good chance that the other parties and independents might have something of a field day.

Whoever the public chooses to vote for is up to them but my hope is that come election time, we will see a reengagement with politics through using the right to vote. If it consists of sending a massive message of protest, then all the better. I have been scathing in the past of the influence independents can exert but if people use the opportunity to vote them in it can send a message to the established parties through the channels they understand.
When it comes to political parties, words and angry rhetoric have no affect. You’ve got to hit them where it hurts, right in the ballot box.