Overall turnout at Irish elections has been dropping for 20 years past - as has also been the case in Britain and France, although not, apparently, in most other European countries. Our general election turnout has dropped from 76 per cent in 1981 to 63 per cent last year, writes Garret Fitzgerald
Various studies and polls have confirmed what every politician knows - that the proportion of younger people who vote is low. Interest in politics has also dropped in our universities, where there seems today to be much less of the lively debate about, and sense of active involvement in, political issues that was such a striking characteristic of the 1960s and of much of the 1970s.
On a high-profile issue such as Iraq there may be a temporary willingness by some students to demonstrate, but, for the rest, only the issue of student fees seems to arouse much active concern among those engaged in third-level studies.
No doubt many factors contribute to political inertia among the young, including the fact that the main parties seem to have moved towards the centre, with less disagreement than in the past not just on economic issues but also on the traditional right/left issues of income redistribution, which used to arouse the compassion of many idealistic young people. Tribunals of inquiry into financial misbehaviour by a very small number of national politicians, and perhaps a greater number of those in local politics, have also put young people off politics.
Moreover, given that at a general election many voters are primarily concerned with the shape of the government that will emerge from the election, another factor generally discouraging political participation may be the fact that, in contrast to the situation up to 1989, voters for at least three of the parties on the ballot paper have not been able since then to know what kind of government they are going to get if their votes put their party in line for government participation.
But the very low voting turn-out among young people when they get the right to vote at 18 and for a decade or more thereafter is certainly not helped by the fact that, for most of them, politics has been excluded from their education during the formative final two or three years of their time at school.
Many of them will have been introduced to civic, social and political education in the first three years of the second-level cycle. The Department of Education syllabus for those junior-cycle courses are remarkably timid in relation to its political component. In the "Outline of the Course" the political element is omitted from the section on "The Community" - apart for a very discreet reference to "Democracy".
It is true that the next section deals with "The State - Ireland", but this too remains extraordinarily preoccupied with "the community" as distinct from politics. Thus, the State is seen merely as "a large grouping of communities", and students are told that "through participation in community groups, organisations (no mention of political parties!), local government, and other structures, we can influence both important issues of national development and decisions made at national level, which have an impact on individuals and" - for the third time - "local communities".
Presumably the "other structures" through which it is possible to influence "national development and decisions made at national level" are the Government and the Dáil - which, however, seem to be too controversial to be actually named here! It is true that this section of the syllabus goes on to say that "we should have a basic understanding of the political system and structures". But once again there is no actual mention of our parliament or of politicians - features of our system clearly thought to be unsuitable for the ears of anyone under 16!
It is a fair bet that this document must have been written by an exceptionally cautious civil servant.
It has to be said that when this school subject escapes from the hands of the Department the situation notably improves. The textbooks bring junior-cycle students right through the Constitution, the role of the President, the Oireachtas, the Government, the legislative work of the Dáil and Seanad, the political parties and the electoral system. Moreover, this is done in an attractive way, appropriate to the age group involved.
The trouble is that for those students who are fortunate enough to be taught this subject, all this valuable preparatory work runs into the sand at senior cycle, for in the case of the great majority of students who take the Leaving Certificate (Established) - to give it its official name - this subject is simply dropped. Just at the age when students are reaching the stage at which they would begin to have questions to ask and would want to probe and challenge, their interest is damped down by removing them from any contact with political, social and civic issues.
With such a short-sighted educational policy, it is not surprising that so many school-leavers switch off politics.
Of course incorporating this kind of material in what is seen to be already an over-crowded Leaving Certificate curriculum poses a problem. A limited supplementary course not forming part of the Leaving Certificate examination system would be unlikely to attract much interest or support from hard-pressed students in search of points. A full but optional Leaving Certificate course, simply offering yet another alternative to the wide range of subjects already available, would be a minority choice.
Should this subject then become a compulsory part of the Leaving Certificate? Under the heading "Programme Requirements", the recently-published consultative paper on "Developing Senior Cycle Education" does actually mention the possibility of specifying a list of compulsory subjects or areas of study - and civic, social and political education would clearly be a prime subject for such action. Interestingly, 80 per dent of those who have so far offered views on this document favour the introduction of this subject to senior cycle - and no less than 37 per cent want it to be compulsory.
This matter has also been the subject of a conference organised a year or so ago by the County Dublin VEC Curriculum Development Unit, as well as of a concrete proposal by that unit last October for a Leaving Certificate course.
Thus this issue is now firmly on the educational agenda - and not before its time.