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Comparative Politics and Government

Notes 18 or over is eligible to vote. Local government officials register voters, and the list is revised annually,
ensuring that nearly everyone eligible to vote is actually registered. Turnout at general elections has
averaged 77 percent since 1950. However, it fell to 59.4 percent at the 2001 election. Casting a vote is the
only political activity of the majority of British people. When asked about their interest in politics, most
people are lukewarm. Depending on the measure used, from 1 to 18 percent can be described as involved
in politics. If elected office is the measure of political involvement, the proportion drops to 1 percent.
The wider the definition of political participation, the greater the number who can be said to be
involved in politics, at least indirectly. More than half of adults belong to an organization that can act
as an interest group, such as an anglers’ club concerned about the pollution of a local stream or the
Automobile Association, which represents motorists. But most people join organizations such as
sports or automobile clubs for nonpolitical purposes. For example, only a limited minority of trade
union members take an interest in the political activities of their union, and half do not vote Labour,
the party that unions support. Many ad hoc groups reflect local concern about a single issue—for
example, the need for a stop sign when there has been an accident in a neighborhood. The concentration
of politics and media in London makes it possible for a London-based protest meeting with a few
thousand people to get press coverage, even though those participating are only one-one-hundredth
of 1 percent of the electorate.
Political Recruitment

We can view recruitment into politics deductively or inductively. The deductive approach defines
the job to be done and individuals are recruited with skills appropriate to the task; this is the route
favored by management consultants. Alternatively, we can inductively examine the influences that
lead people into politics and ask: Given their skills and motives, what can such people do? The
constraints of history and institutions make the inductive approach more realistic.
The most important political roles in Britain are those of Cabinet minister, higher civil servant, and
intermittent public person, analogous to informal advisers to presidents. Each group has its own
recruitment pattern. To become a Cabinet minister, an individual must first be elected to Parliament
and spend years attracting positive attention there. Individuals enter the civil service shortly after
leaving university by passing a highly competitive entrance examination; promotion is based on
achievement and approval by seniors. Intermittent public persons gain access to ministers and civil
servants because of their expertise or position in organizations outside politics, or because they are
personally trusted by leading politicians.
In all political roles, experience is positively valued. Starting early on a political career is usually a
precondition of success. But aspiring Cabinet ministers are not expected to begin in local politics and
work their way gradually to the top at Westminster. Instead, at an early age an individual becomes a
“cadet” recruit to a junior position such as a parliamentary assistant to an MP or a “gofer” for a
Cabinet minister. This can lead to a central political role after gaining skill and seniority.
Political Participation in Russian

In a democracy, citizens take part in public life both through direct forms of political participation,
such as voting, party work, organizing for a cause, demon-strating, lobbying, and the like, and more
indirect forms of participation, such as membership in civic groups and voluntary associations. Both
kinds of participation influence the quality of government. By means of collective action citizens
signal to policy makers what they want government to do, and it is through channels of participation
that activists rise to positions of leadership. But, despite the legal equality of citizens in democracies,
levels of participation across groups in the population vary with differences in resources, opportunities
and motivations. The better-off and better-educated tend to be dis-proportionately involved in political
life everywhere, but in some societies the disproportion is much greater than in others.
The Importance of Social Capital

A healthy fabric of voluntary associations has been recognized since de Tocqueville’s time as an
important component of democracy. As political scientist Robert D. Putnam has shown, participation

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