As government pulls back, so do the voters:Professor
Monday, June 28, 2004 - Roderick Benns
As government has pulled back from its role as builders and defenders of public institutions, so, too, have younger voters pulled back from the political process itself, according to a Trent University professor.

Mark Neufeld, a political studies professor, makes his comments in relation to today's Canadian federal election, widely expected to have a low number of younger voters once again.

But Neufeld says Canadian voting patterns have declined steadily since the turn of the century, and the safest bet is they will do so again.

"It is both astounding and yet completely understandable," he says.

"We have a young generation, under 30, which has been told by society they can’t make any changes and that neither can government, to any significant degree," he explains.

Neufeld says when he stops and looks at a cornerstone on the grounds of Trent University, it serves as a reminder of a time that seems to have passed. The stone reads it was placed there in 1964 with the support of both former Conservative premier of Ontario, John Robarts, and former Liberal premier of Quebec, Jean Lesage.

"There was a time when Tories and Liberals built things. They built institutions to serve the public good. These were not raving leftists, but politicians who built something for society," explains Neufeld.

The professor says his prediction is that sometime this week, the country will have realized young people have voted less than ever before. "There will be lots of hand-wringing by experts in the Globe and Mail and other papers, asking what’s wrong with our young people," he says.

"But why should they? Why should they believe in public institutions when we’ve told them not to expect anything" from their government? asks Neufeld.

However, Neufeld says he is not advocating an abstinence from voting or not knowing the issues. "People have been disempowered, but there’s a personal responsibility to inform yourself and have a position."

He says the underprivileged, though, "may inform themselves that voting is not something that will lead to betterment for their own life situation."

During this election campaign, the voting system itself has garnered more attention than usual, with ideas like replacing the current system with a system of proportional representation. As someone who lived in Germany for a number of years, where a mixed-proportional system exists, Neufeld says a change certainly "couldn’t hurt" in encouraging voter participation.

In Germany, seats are assigned on a first-past-the-post basis, but seats are also assigned for a percentage of the popular vote.

Neufeld draws on an example. He says if Canada had a similar system, the NDP would perhaps get no seats in Alberta for the first-past-the-post segment of the election but still get some seats there to reflect its share of the popular vote.

"I think this would be a useful thing to consider, but my argument would be that this isn’t enough."

Instead, says Neufeld, the country would have to entirely re-think its conventional wisdom on what the meaning of government is in society.

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