Voting in my youth was almost a religious occasion in the way most people held very firm views about politics and the party they supported. Politics was tribal in that it was, in large part, class based. Labour (socialism), versus the Tory Party(capitalism). We were often heavily influenced by our parents, usually Dad and the background he had grown up in. The wide difference between a factory worker/manual/semi skilled,skilled person and the traditional white collar, clerical, managerial worker was reflected by the party. Parties had an ideological base with clear differentiation between each manifesto and the people they intended to serve.
Today we have a much more complex situation with the ideology being virtually excluded in place of self interest.
The Polling Station, held in the local school classroom was a short walk down the road. I was the only one there and as I entered, I was greeted by eight hopeful faces, (there were more clerks than voters) and was ushered to the table dealing with the Ws !!! Four candidates, four different parties and only one cross, no sweat !!!
It was all a far cry from the 1994 SA election with its long queues both in SA and locally in Trafalgar Square as South Africans, with so much optimism voted, (many for the first time in their lives), for the New South Africa. Remember the long list of candidates running into more than one page and the languages to be accommodated.
Democracy was meant to be a system, of the people, for the people, an antidote to the aristocratic "noblesse oblige". The parties manifesto, the aims, the promises which often turn into lies and disappointment and are taken on face value by the majority. We now have the added dimension of Presidential style TV debates, where the photogenic dimension is valued as much as the debate. I suppose, in an age of celebrity the image wins hands down on content and credibility.
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