… and ideas to tackle it.
Fifty-two percent: the percentage of the Italian electorate that opted to sit out the European Parliament elections, precisely more than half. For the first time, the rate of abstentions slightly exceeds the already high European average. While it is true that highly developed countries have managed to maintain stability with even lower voter turnout percentages, what distinguishes the Italian and European vote is the persistent downward trend. Two decades ago, voter turnout was significantly higher despite institutions wielding considerably less power. The paradox lies in the fact that as challenges increasingly transcend national boundaries, indifference towards the institutions tasked with addressing these issues grows. This underscores a critical issue of democracy and institutional efficiency, which must now more than ever take center stage for those tasked with governing a Union facing the threat of potential fragmentation.
In 1979, when the world's only transnational Parliament was elected for the first time, 86% of Italian citizens participated in the vote. Since then, there has been an undeniable decline: as depicted in the accompanying graph, more than two-thirds of voters participated twenty years ago, whereas in the latest elections, less than half did so. Concurrently, the European Parliament's authority has been fortified through successive treaty revisions, while an enhanced perception of national governments' inadequacy in addressing pivotal issues has been highlighted.
Source. European Parliament data eleborated by Vision Think Tank.
It is notable that recent elections have favored parties that used to embody skepticism towards Europe, which nonetheless can no longer avoid acknowledging that the security of their own "territories" is now being contested on a global stage. This is exemplified by the Italian party Lega, which advocates for "less Europe," yet despite this stance, prioritizes issues such as war and Europe's role in negotiating peace in Ukraine. Likewise, the Dutch farmers' party, catalysts of protests against Green Deal regulations, acknowledges the impact of climate change on their lands and urges Europe to demand reduced emissions from China and India.
Nowadays, the global landscape confronts us with viruses from distant lands and escalating conflicts that strain our resources. Yet, voter participation rates suggest a waning confidence in our ability to engage in politics just as its impact - be it present or absent - threatens our lives with a severity unseen in generations. This paradox finds its roots in both the democratic structures of participation and, consequently, in the substantive capacity of our elected leaders to resolve pressing issues.
Firstly, let us examine the mechanisms of participation. In 1979, when the regulations governing European Parliament elections were first established and have since remained largely unchanged for half a century, people talked at distance through landline telephones and got news almost exclusively from state owned general broadcaster and few mass-daily newspapers; at that time the world was still rigidly divided in two blocks exchanging little more than Vodka against Coca Cola. Over the past fifty years, the internet - a technology exclusive to the military in 1979 - has profoundly reshaped the dissemination of information and, consequently, power: most powerful companies today rely on global value chains that appear inextricable also against wars.
Despite these mutations, the forms of democracy, the ones that dictate how power is distributed, exercised, and constrained, have remained unchanged. Estonia stands as a rare exception with its use of electronic voting, although nowadays electronic tools are ubiquitous for financial transactions, tax filing, and medical record retrieval. And it is the very notion of citizenship enshrined in our electoral laws that mirrors a world that has ceased to exist altogether. As a matter of fact, electoral constituencies remain strictly tied to geographical boundaries, disadvantaging individuals with dispersed social networks. This oversight disregards the reality that the average thirty-year-old today has relocated residences and changed occupations multiple times, identifying as part of a community that transcends borders and territories.
Conversely, the essence of politics lies in its substantive dimension. Without the vigor derived from collective decision-making, politics descends into mere bureaucratic administration of paperwork. Moreover, it fails to embody leadership capable of rallying people around transformative strategies - what we cautiously label as "transitions," which often encompass technological or environmental revolutions. Consequently, the chambers of power become hollowed-out spaces, potent only when they align political decisions with widespread public motivations.
The crisis plaguing European democracy does not stem from the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" as seen in figures like Trump or Orban; rather, they are symptoms of technological obsolescence. These weaknesses manifest as the incapacity of liberal democracy (both at transnational and national levels) to adapt to technological, demographic, and social transformations that remain poorly understood. Addressing this crisis necessitates the evolution of participation methodologies towards models that are more information rich, frequent, “multichannel”. This is particularly vital in order to empower younger generations to influence decisions that will shape the future and to restore the strategic thinking we have lost.
Envisioning a future Europe after the tumult of the last weekend remains implausible unless we urgently discard the notion of politics as a mere technical endeavor while bringing citizens closer to a form of authority that risks impotence when it fails to accurately represent their interests.
References:
European Parliament. (2024) "Italy - European Elections 2024: country sheets". Link
European Parliament. Verian, by the European Parliament (2024). "European Parliament 2024-2029". Link
European Parliament. Verian, by the European Parliament (2024). "Turnout by country (%). Provisional Results". Link
European Parliament. Verian, by the European Parliament (2024). "Turnout by year. Provisional Results". Link
Financial Times (2021). Patrick Mulholland. "Estonia leads world in making digital voting a reality. Baltic nation has expanded its digital revolution to include free, fair and secure online ballots". Link
