Total Politics 2010 Election Map

Total Politics - because knowledge is power

 

No to apathy!

 

Jason Miks

 

As Britain once again mulls electoral reform to boost languishing voter turnout, lawmakers might take some comfort from knowing their similarly worried East Asian cousins are already on the case. The transferability of some of these schemes might be questionable, but they at least offer some food for thought.
Here in Japan, a particular concern is younger voters. Although overall turnout in general elections has fallen from highs of over 70% in 50s, 60s and 70s, a healthy 67% still showed up to vote in 2005. But turnout among young people in this rapidly aging society is worrying policy makers.
Prof. Shoichiro Ishibashi of Japan's Kansai University, currently a visiting fellow at the Center for the Study of Democracy in California, says the gap between turnout among older and younger Japanese voters is the widest in the world at 37%, compared with 31% in the US and 30% in Switzerland.
As in Britain, he says there are proposals to lower the voting age, which in Japan's case would mean dropping it from 20 to 18. 20 is the age when you're considered an adult in Japan and can vote, buy alcohol and even smoke (Japanese are astonished that British teenagers can legally smoke at 16, though with a packet of cigarettes available here from vending machines on virtually any city street corner for about £1.50, it's probably a good idea to keep that age limit higher.)
But Ishibashi says there is limited public support for lowering the voting age. "Japanese society is against this because people think young Japanese are politically immature. And young Japanese themselves also think they are," he says, arguing the solution rests with the nation's schools and parents.
"I think political education in high schools is very important," he says. "But civic education within families is also important. Parents have to talk about politics," he says.
Local governments and the private sector meanwhile, have sought their own solutions.
An increasing number of local associations are introducing discounts and other services at shopping centres for those able to prove they have voted, while last year also saw lingerie maker Triumph International Japan doing its bit with the launch of the Voter Turnout Lift-UP! Bra, designed to look like a ballot box.
And maybe it worked - turnout at last year's upper house elections was 58.64%, up 2.07 points on the previous contest in 2004.
Hopping across the Sea of Japan, we can probably skip over North Korea. Although the country recorded an apparently admirable turnout of 99.9% in the last Supreme People's Assembly election in 2003, British lawmakers might balk at having to drop so many rungs on Freedom House's latest Freedom Index to secure such "enthusiasm".
Just across the border in South Korea, turnout has generally been high (though falling) for presidential elections, but hit a record low of just 46% in April's parliamentary elections.
"People couldn't find any special agenda," says Jin-Wook Choi, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "The economy is the priority, but we couldn't see a political leader who could make it better."
Anticipating a low turnout, the country's electoral commission offered $2 tokens for use at government-run attractions for those voting in April's elections, and enlisted the help of the popular Wonder Girls pop group for an advertising campaign.
To no avail.
Further south in Taiwan, money was also changing hands, but this time it was local authorities that could cash in by boosting turnout for this year's presidential election.
The Maioli County Magistrate decided to offer villages under its jurisdiction 500,000 NT for infrastructure projects if they achieved 75% turnout and 1 million NT for those getting more than 80%.
But Leonard Chien, a Taipei-based blogger and volunteer with the Global Voices Online project, thinks the impact of such schemes is limited.
"When most people see new infrastructure in their local area, they don't know, and probably don't care, where the budget came from," he says.
And he argues that Taiwanese politicians need to change tack if they are to keep voters interested. "In the past, the reason was 'fighting for democracy,'" he says. "Now people have democracy in their hands, they need economic growth, peace and prosperity. This is what voters, young or old, are interested in, and this is what politicians should provide."
Simple really.