Jane Devine: Ordinary people’s could be engaged to the advantage of us all

DEMOCRACY is something we take for granted in this country, but it is something that requires the participation of all of us, if it is to work properly.

Democracy, as any politics student will tell you is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people. That suggests to me an active role for the people.

But our relationship with the democratic process is not good in this country and far from active. We have low voter turnout, a general apathy towards politics and a distrust of politicians. Many people will be at pains to point out that they are not into politics and eye you suspiciously if you are. But they are too. Just see their reaction if it is suggested that a school, swimming pool or hospital is closed, a bus route terminated or rubbish collections become less frequent.

We are all “into politics”, but the attitude of many people towards anything defined as “politics” puts them off getting involved in a process they could easily contribute to and get a positive experience from.

No wonder though. Recently, where I live, a local politician, who was part of the administration which closed a village hall, put on his election propaganda that he had fought to save it. People turned out in their hundreds to demonstrate to keep the hall open, though hardly any of them voted in the next election.

Even involvement on community councils is low. My community council recently leafleted the houses in the area looking for people willing to stand for election. There were ten places, but only six people came forward. These bodies are not party political and they get things done. They were established more than 40 years ago to ensure councils and other public bodies had a direct way of hearing from their communities the issues concerning them.

I joined, much to the surprise and joy of others already on the committee – nice to have young blood, was one comment I got. The issues discussed at our last meeting did not include tax, welfare or defence; they did however include discussions about making a dangerous road junction safer, re-building a footpath washed away by flooding and a plan to co-ordinate local farmers to clear our village of snow in the winter. These are all things that locals are concerned about, but which many just talk about.

As the cuts hit harder and the state does less and less for us, we can no longer afford to be passive: accepting the things we like and doing nothing constructive about the things we don’t. We need to get involved, make things happen the way we want them to and hold the decision-makers to account.

We don’t need to join a party or sign up to an ideology. We don’t need to become politicians. We just need to care enough about the place we stay in and the people we share it with to take some responsibility for it. We are the people after all.