A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit
Free, regular, and open elections are sought-after qualities of a liberal democracy. Reading electoral turnout as an indicator of political engagement, though, is a reductive reading and can obscure entrenched levels of political disengagement. This article considers the implications of Article 21,...
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| Language: | English |
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University of Salerno
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Culture e Studi del Sociale |
| Online Access: | https://www.cussoc.it/journal/article/view/155 |
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| author | Ryan Service |
| author_facet | Ryan Service |
| author_sort | Ryan Service |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Free, regular, and open elections are sought-after qualities of a liberal democracy. Reading electoral turnout as an indicator of political engagement, though, is a reductive reading and can obscure entrenched levels of political disengagement. This article considers the implications of Article 21, subsection one, of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948) as an assessment of political participation. There are three lines of investigation. First, the paper will examine the model of political engagement implied within Article 21 and its subsequent iterations. Second, theories of political participation are linked to a study of civic engagement within the British parliamentary system. Third, building upon these two arguments, the 2016 Brexit referendum is presented as a case study to demonstrate the limitations of a voter turnout measurement. Political participation must be continually (re)imagined, (re)constructed, and reflected upon otherwise we rely upon voting by numbers.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7bc8b2822bf94d5690138d2720494ff3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2531-3975 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | University of Salerno |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Culture e Studi del Sociale |
| spelling | doaj-art-7bc8b2822bf94d5690138d2720494ff32025-08-20T02:10:41ZengUniversity of SalernoCulture e Studi del Sociale2531-39752020-10-0152A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of BrexitRyan Service0Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, Italy Free, regular, and open elections are sought-after qualities of a liberal democracy. Reading electoral turnout as an indicator of political engagement, though, is a reductive reading and can obscure entrenched levels of political disengagement. This article considers the implications of Article 21, subsection one, of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948) as an assessment of political participation. There are three lines of investigation. First, the paper will examine the model of political engagement implied within Article 21 and its subsequent iterations. Second, theories of political participation are linked to a study of civic engagement within the British parliamentary system. Third, building upon these two arguments, the 2016 Brexit referendum is presented as a case study to demonstrate the limitations of a voter turnout measurement. Political participation must be continually (re)imagined, (re)constructed, and reflected upon otherwise we rely upon voting by numbers. https://www.cussoc.it/journal/article/view/155 |
| spellingShingle | Ryan Service A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit Culture e Studi del Sociale |
| title | A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit |
| title_full | A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit |
| title_fullStr | A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit |
| title_short | A Reading of Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights: Political (Dis)engagement in the Context of Brexit |
| title_sort | reading of article 21 of the united nations declaration of human rights political dis engagement in the context of brexit |
| url | https://www.cussoc.it/journal/article/view/155 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ryanservice areadingofarticle21oftheunitednationsdeclarationofhumanrightspoliticaldisengagementinthecontextofbrexit AT ryanservice readingofarticle21oftheunitednationsdeclarationofhumanrightspoliticaldisengagementinthecontextofbrexit |