What is political apathy?

What Is The Meaning of Political Apathy

Apathy simply means a feeling of not having any interest in or enthusiasm about anything. It also means the feeling of not willing to make any effort to change things. While Political apathy means a feeling of having no interest and enthusiasm about politics.
       The belief of people like this is that politics is a dirty game, and whatever is done there is not their business because a certain set of people are meant for the task, and only those who are atheist or freelance can join politics. Political apathy involves the attitude of indifference of citizens to Democratic processes.  It shows the negative behavioral disposition of people towards the government of their country vis-à-vis every other political activity. Political apathy, if left uncontrolled, can bring about stagnation to the development of a nation.

What are the Causes of Political Apathy

There are so many factors that can cause the indifference of the citizens to the democratic processes.

Unfulfilled Political Promises : people become apolitical to the system because of the way politicians cajole them to vote for them with juicy promises which they never fulfill. Bad Governance : the inability of the political leaders to provide amenities and other measures to improve the welfare of the people is another reason for political apathy. Political violence : The attitude of some politicians who see politics as a do or die affair which always result to violence, assassinations and assault on their political opponents always discourage citizens from participating in politics. Electoral Malpractices : Various electoral malpractices which include multiple voting, rigging, declaration of wrong candidate as winner and the inability of the government to punish electoral offenders who disrupt elections are all reasons that discourage the people from participation in politics. Party ideologies : People become apolitical when they observe that the political parties existing or ruling at a particular time do not have any strong ideology. Ways of Fighting Political Apathy
The central point of democracy is the participation of the citizens in the democratic process. The spirit of democracy is ” people centered ” as majority rule is often listed as a major characteristic of democracy.
      However, when people in a political system become indifference to the Democratic process and the government, there can be stagnation to the development of the nation. If political apathy is left uncontrolled, there can be disorder, violence and revolution which could have been averted and resolved by people’s participation and total involvement in political process.

 Thus, the various way of fighting political apathy are as follows:

1. Political awarness
2. Understanding and knowing political rights
3. Defending rights
4. Participation in elections
5. Joining popular organizations 
6. Performing civic duties
7. Poverty reduction/eradication.