TY - JOUR

T1 - Policy Alienation, Social Alienation and Working-Class Abstention in Britain, 1964–2010

AU - Heath, Oliver

PY - 2018/10

Y1 - 2018/10

N2 - This article presents an examination of class-based inequalities in turnout at British elections. These inequalities have substantially grown, and the class divide in participation has become greater than the class divide in vote choice between the two main parties. To account for class inequalities in turnout three main hypotheses – to do with policy indifference, policy alienation and social alienation – are tested. The results from the British context suggest that the social background of political representatives influences the ways in which voters participate in the political process, and that the decline in proportion of elected representatives from working-class backgrounds is strongly associated with the rise of working-class abstention.

AB - This article presents an examination of class-based inequalities in turnout at British elections. These inequalities have substantially grown, and the class divide in participation has become greater than the class divide in vote choice between the two main parties. To account for class inequalities in turnout three main hypotheses – to do with policy indifference, policy alienation and social alienation – are tested. The results from the British context suggest that the social background of political representatives influences the ways in which voters participate in the political process, and that the decline in proportion of elected representatives from working-class backgrounds is strongly associated with the rise of working-class abstention.

U2 - 10.1017/S0007123416000272

DO - 10.1017/S0007123416000272

M3 - Article

VL - 48

SP - 1053

EP - 1073

JO - British Journal of Political Science

JF - British Journal of Political Science

SN - 0007-1234

IS - 4

ER -