The impact of austerity on political participation in the UK

Abstract

Since 2010, the UK government has undertaken extensive cuts and reforms to spending in order to reduce the budget deficit. These cuts have manifested in significant reductions in welfare, local authority and justice system spending and a long-term freeze in public sector pay. The cuts have been linked with rising poverty, food bank use and serious health issues, including rising suicide rates. Such extreme cuts are likely to affect how citizens view and interact with government, yet there is little evidence of sustained public political participation to either support or oppose austerity. Given the negative consequences for so many people, it is surprising that the response from the public has been so muted. Thus far, research on the connection between austerity and political participation has been limited. Much of the literature focuses on those who are participating in response to austerity, rather than the majority who are not. Using a mixed methods approach, this thesis examines whether the theories of civic voluntarism, grievance or policy feedback could explain why austerity appears to have provoked relatively little political participation in the UK. Interview evidence shows that all these theories have a role to play in explaining the apparent lack of political activism in response to austerity. Political activism in response to austerity varied according to personal experience of cuts, attitudes to austerity and prior levels of participation. This thesis demonstrates that austerity has largely failed to provoke participation because people are either not affected by it personally, do not have the resources to participate or do not believe that participation would change anything. This topic has implications for economic policy, as well as literature on both political participation and austerity.

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ORCID for John Boswell: orcid.org/0000-0002-3018-8791

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