Civic Education: Reasons For Political Apathy

Political Apathy

Political apathy is the indifference on the part of any citizen of any country with regard to their attitude towards political activities. Political apathy can also be defined as the lack of interest in being active in politics either by voting or been voted for, i.e. not wanting to have any share in political activities. For example, politicians, elections, public opinions, civic responsibility. An individual’s political apathy begins as a result of lack  of  understanding when it comes to politics or government to a certain degree, and this makes it more difficult for that individual to see the value in universal suffrage, and to see the benefits and/or costs of new policies that the government intends to put in place. The individual sees it as irrational to gain the knowledge, since (supposedly) there would be no benefit for him.

Reasons For Political Apathy

The following points below are the reasons why people fail to participate in political issues

1. Bad Governance: The government of Nigeria for instance rules in a bad and carefree manner, their act does not motivate people thereby making people to ignore and nonchalant to political activities.
2. Election Rigging: so many citizens belief that no matter the level of security election are going to be rigged either directly or indirectly thereby they see voting as a waste of time and energy.
3. Past History of Political Occurrence: Due to the fact that some family members, friends and relatives have been victimized in the process of participating in political issues, because of this experience people decide not to participate in politics.
4. Violent Campaign: Sometimes, the way political parties carry out their carry out their campaigns appears too violent and this can lead to lack of interest in politics.
5. Military Invitation: people reflect on the past hijacked political activities through bloody coup d’état because of this people decide not to participate.
6. Weak Security Measure: Most of the times, the security provided by the government during election or campaigns or any demonstration are always too weak to provide adequate security; this therefore creates fear in the heart of people and make them not want to participate.
7. Chaotic Political Atmosphere: Sometimes political atmosphere appears unpeaceful, the political killings and all the rest is another reason for political apathy.