2015年经济学人 年轻选民 无情的谬误

Young voters

Apathetic¹ fallacy

Online voting could transform Britain's electorate²

Fancy a snap election?

ONE-BY-ONE they approach the lectern, explaining why they will cast their votes.

“Regardless of whether you do or don't, policies will be implemented,” says Princess, an activist³, to loud cheers.

As politicians from the main parties all make their speeches, the atmosphere in the lecture theatre at Queen Mary University, in east London, is electric.

This is what Citizens UK, a network of university bodies, youth groups and religious gatherings⁴, does so well:

using existing civil-society organisations to spur young people into political action, and holding invigorating assemblies to meld them together.

It is also the exception. At the 2010 election, according to Ipsos MORI, 44% of Britons aged⁵ between 18 and 24 voted,

compared with 76% of those aged 65 and over (national turnout was 65%). The gap is relatively⁶ new: it was half the size in 1970,

and has grown significantly only over the past two decades. It is also starker⁷ than elsewhere.

In the German election in 2013, for example, 64% of first-time voters cast their ballots⁸, compared with 75% for over-70s.

Britain's low youth turnout helps to explain why the outgoing, Conservative-led government has protected public spending on older voters

(guaranteeing increases in the state pension, for example) while doing little to solve a housing shortage, which affects the young most acutely.

There are several reasons for the low turnout. One is that more Britons are going to university and ever-more live in short-term, rented accommodation.

Both trends make it harder for authorities to register them. Another is that Britain's first-past-the-post system holds down insurgent⁹ parties—like the Green Party—

which are popular among young voters but stand no chance of winning more than a handful of seats. This makes voting seem less effective.

Perhaps the most convincing explanation is that mainstream¹⁰ parties, with their soporific committee meetings,

are ill-attuned to a generation more at home in dynamic organisations like Citizens UK and 38 Degrees,

an online campaigning network which claims to have over ten times as many members as the Labour Party.

What to do? In the long term, political parties should become looser, more open and more welcoming.

But one simple improvement would be online voting; a measure which John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, has said he wants to see by 2020.

That would both accommodate the footloose lives of young Britons, but also reflect how they like to do their politics:

online and with reference to their social networks. Estonia introduced online voting in parliamentary elections in 2007. What is Britain waiting for?

1 apathetic   

adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的

参考例句：

• I realised I was becoming increasingly depressed and apathetic.我意识到自己越来越消沉、越来越冷漠了。
• You won't succeed if you are apathetic.要是你冷淡，你就不能成功。

2 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

5 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 starker   

（指区别）明显的( stark的比较级 )； 完全的； 了无修饰的； 僵硬的

参考例句：

• As night falls, the contrast between these worlds grows starker. 随着夜幕的降临，两个世界的对比更为鲜明。
• What's more, compared with 1992, voters face a starker economic choice. 另外，跟1992年相比，选民面临着一种更为刻板的经济选择。

8 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。