Journée d'étude : Not ‘all the same.’ Boosting the political participation of under-represented groups among electors in Britain.

 Programme [PDF - 207 Ko]

Organisation : Emmanuelle Avril et Sarah Pickard







 

09:45 — 10:00 / Opening words from Director of CREC David FEE and conference organisers

CHAIR: Pauline SCHNAPPER PAULINE SCHNAPPER

(1) 10:00 — 10:30

The State of Electoral Participation: Data, Notions and Concepts

Sarah PICKARD — Senior lecturer & researcher (MCF), Université Sorbonne Nouvelle,

EA 4399 CREC/CREW, Paris.

(2) 10:30 — 11:00

ID Registration Schemes, Individual Electoral Registration, ‘Motor Voter’ Initiatives

Jessica GARLAND — Director of Policy and Research, Electoral Reform Society (ERS),

London.

TEA/COFFEE BREAK

CHAIR: Romain GARBAYEROMAIN GARBAYE

(3) 11:30 — 12:00

Boosting Voting Among Minority Religious Groups

Rakib EHSAN — Research Fellow, Henry Jackson Society, London.

(4) 12:00 — 12:30

Operation Black Vote: Boosting Black and Minority Ethnic Participation and Representation in the British Political System

Sharon BAPTISTE — Senior lecturer & researcher (MCF), Université Paris 13,

EA 7338 PLEIADE, Villetaneuse.

LUNCH

CHAIR: David FÉEDAVID FEE

(5) 14:00 — 14:30

Too Poor to Vote? Closing the Turnout Income Gap

Emmanuelle AVRIL — Professor, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, EA 4399 CREC/

CREW, Paris.

(6) 14:30 — 15:00

How to Capture the Youth Vote? A Lesson for Political Parties

Matt HENN — Professor, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham.

James SLOAM — Reader in Politics, Royal Holloway University, London.

TEA/COFFEE BREAK

CHAIRS: Emmanuelle AVRIL & Sarah PICKARDEMMANUELLE AVRIL & SARAH PICKARD

(7) 15:30 — 17:00 / ROUNDTABLE –  

Levers to Boost Women’s Electoral Participation

Jessica GARLAND — Director of Policy and Research, Electoral Reform Society (ERS),

London.

The ‘Brexit’ Expat Vote

Matthew LEGGETT — Senior lecturer & researcher (MCF), Université de Bourgogne

Franche Comté, EA 4182 Centre Interlangues, Dijon.

Extending Voting Rights to Prisoners in Scotland

Edwige CAMP — Professor, Université de Valenciennes, EA 4343 CALHISTE,

Valenciennes.

This study day will explore the political participation of under-represented groups as electors within traditional political institutions in Britain. The focus will be on barriers to participation and especially the mechanisms employed by different actors to increase the participation and agency of those groups of people who tend to have lower electoral turnout rates.

Numerous demographic categories, identity groups and communities are said to be under-represented in British electoral politics as voters with lower electoral participation rates. These include: young people, women, people from ethnic minorities and religious minorities, working class people, people from disadvantaged backgrounds, state-school educated people, LGBTQ people, single parents and disabled people.

The year 2019 marks just over a century since women aged 30 and over (owning property) were enfranchised for general elections, prior to all women obtaining the right to vote with universal suffrage in 1928. It is also the 50th anniversary of when the minimum voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for general elections. Today, UK parliamentary debates are gaining momentum around votes at 16 that already exists in Scotland and soon Wales. In this way, over the years, various laws have been enacted that have opened out voting to a greater proportion of the population and various networks, pressure groups, advocacy groups and social movements have sought to increase franchise and boost the political participation of under-represented groups.

Why have the political participation rates of electors evolved? What has been done to achieve change? Who is involved in bringing about higher turnout rates among underrepresented groups? How could participation be improved? Which individuals, networks, lobbies, social movements and political bodies are acting to improve participation? What has been done and by whom to encourage under-represented groups to vote and what else could or should be done? What are the levers to boost electoral participation?

These are just some of the questions this study day aims to answer.