Last Thursday the University of Sheffield hosted a thought-provoking event titled "Re-engaging Citizens in Democratic Politics" . The main speakers, Colin Hay and Gerry Stoker, both well-respected academics, aimed to engage the audience in the numerous academic debates surrounding democratic decline. This may sound like alarmist self-indulgence however considering the evidence it is hard not too see their point.

The main conclusions made were as follows: over the past three decades or so turnout has been in slow and steady decline, accompanied by decreasing party membership and trust in politicians. Citizen's confidence in their ability to influence political outcomes has decreased significantly, leading to alienation from the political system. The most worrying of them all was that "the youth" are becoming increasingly unlikely to go the polls when they first become enfranchised, and that this habit of non-participation becomes entrenched. After a cursory glance at these trends it doesn't take a political scientist to figure out that this is damming indictment of the state of British politics.

There have been some who seek to explain our declining engagement in formal politics as merely reflective of widespread apathy or contentment. Youth aversion to the ballot box is put down to ignorance and poor education. This criticism is also aimed at the wider population who are vilified for being indifferent to politics whilst indulgent in commodity fetishism. The past decade of seemingly unending economic growth has pacified discontentment. Consumers have been enabled to engage in a market of products that meets their individual needs far better than the political process.

Citizens, it is argued, ask themselves why bother waiting for a council house when you can get a 100% mortgage? Why lobby your MP for better rights at work when you can just up and leave for another job at the end of the month? Why worry about domestic politics when you can escape to Majorca and leave all your worries behind for a fortnight?

These might seem like valid points yet they still don't explain why politics has come to play second fiddle to the consumerist self-indulgence. Whilst it cannot be ignored that we have been privy to more material pleasures than our previous generations, it does not explain why we trust politicians so little. Despite recent evidence suggesting that for once bankers and the institutions of the City are less trusted than our elected officials, it is little consolation considering that politicians are by far one of the most distrusted professions in the land .

The standard tack of denouncing non-participation as indifference and apathy is also problematic considering the evidence suggests we are still interested in politics. Despite falling turnout there has been an increase in ethical consumerism and other informal modes of participation such as writing to the media. Even focus groups with the dreaded "yoof" seem to point out that they're far more engaged than we had previously expected.

The conclusions made at the event were that we are interested in but alienated from politics. We're impassioned but frustrated by our lack of influence. Much of the tripe about voter apathy merely seeks to explain turnout decline through passing the buck onto the political consumer. Evidence seems to suggest that these "demand-side" problems are both over-stated and misunderstood. The problem lies not within our demand for politics per se but in the failure of politics, or to be more specific politicians, to supply us with reasons to give them our support.

This is not surprising considering the government's current performance. Their attempt to stabilize the banking system has provided mixed results, yet more fundamentally it has done nothing to reassure us that they are working in our interest. Promises made for job creation look fanciful and far-off, whilst staggeringly high amounts of money are pumped into the black hole of our decrepit financial system. Workers are laid off in their thousands whilst at best their plight is met with unconvincing, rehearsed showings of empathy and understanding by ministers and opposition alike.

To top it all off the common line throughout the past six months has been that matters are out of their hands. ‘The economic crisis is a world crisis' does not instil trust in their ability to tackle the problems at hand. What makes it worse is that there is little substantive difference between the parties as to how this can all be resolved with minimal harm to us, the victims. It is then no surprise that the void left by the major parties has been exploited by the far-right.

If Labour wants to stand any chance at the next general election they need to give us reasons why we can have faith in politics. New Labour has failed miserably in this exercise, and in doing so has contributed towards the continuing secular decline in turnout and participation in formal politics. If MP's wish to remain relevant they should start acting like it and not just stand at the sidelines saying "it isn't my fault guv". If they don't then the far-right will continue to make head roads into traditional Labour heartlands.

Pandering to the far-right by bullying vulnerable asylum seekers and closing the borders is reactionary and unproductive. It's time Labour started making real decisions by laying the hammer down on City excesses, supporting vulnerable workers, investing heavily in creating the oft-alluded-to "green economy" and by making themselves more accountable. They must remember trust is won through actions not through rhetoric.

Steve Goodrich,