Why do people vote ukip

There used to be a worker-owner divide in the UK; this was undermined with the decline of trade unions as the working class became more socially fragmented. All of this goes hand in hand with the downfall of collective organisations more generally and the rise of individualism. At the same time, inequality has been rising.

Greater international mobility has been accompanied by a rise in multiculturalism. And a generational divide has grown. Given the multitude of drivers behind the Ukip vote — economic, cultural, and political — there is clearly no single answer for defeating populism.

Yet these demands skirt around the heart of the problem. Only an intricate mix of social policies and financial regulation could ensure solidarity and rebalance the power between the vast majority and the economic elites i. For others, immigration is more of a symbol of disrupted communities, undermined national identity, and a declining feeling of belonging than about economic fears per se. There is a progressive patriotic narrative missing in Europe today. Looking to Canada offers some inspiration.

There are a multitude of drivers behind Ukip, but the political drivers are often overlooked. The main argument is that demand for democratic change should not be ignored. Democracy is indeed more than just elections, and involving ordinary people in political decision-making draws on the inherent richness of diverse societies. Democratic innovations are a relatively new field of practice and research.

The general idea is that our liberal democracies should open themselves up to new and semi-new ways of citizen participation in politics. After all, most of our current political institutions and processes date from the 19th century or even earlier.

Democratic innovations include deliberative polling, town hall meetings, participatory budgeting, e-democracy, and many more approaches and combinations of approaches a good overview can be found in this seminal book by Graham Smith.

Discover Membership. Editions Quartz. More from Quartz About Quartz. Follow Quartz. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. From our Obsession. By Akshat Rathi Senior reporter. Published June 9, This article is more than 2 years old. Let's consider some of the things that have been bad in the recent past.

In the past few months Ukip has voted against updated rules on cab design and safety, which would make it easier for the drivers of lorries to spot pedestrians and cyclists. Also against requirements that MEPs who draft legislation should publish which lobbyists they have met and their influence on the legislation. It opposed greater transparency for clinical trials data and greater protections for holidaymakers buying package holidays. Also legislation to tackle money laundering and calls for greater public access to EU documents.

Things are moving in the right direction, perhaps. The manifesto , which Farage has called "drivel", called for taxi drivers to be required to wear uniforms, dress codes for the theatre and for the Circle line on London's underground to be made a circle again. Farage seems a laugh in that "hail fellow well met" way.

But you can tell a lot by the friends he keeps. And some of the types he hangs out with in Brussels would be seen as a rough crowd here. Who are they?

There are the figures in the xenophobic and rightwing Italian Northern League , the second largest grouping in the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, which Farage chairs. Umberto Bossi , its founder, once called for illegal immigrants to be shot.

Farage knows they can be a bit unreconstructed. She was, said Mario Borghezio , more suited to being a "housekeeper" or a low-level council official than a minister and would impose African "tribal traditions" on Italy.

The True Finns are firm friends too. One of them collided with a spot of bother for floating the idea of mandatory armbands for foreigners to make it easier for police to identify them. The Danish People's party: more ghastlies. Frank Vanhecke is there too. He's the former leader of Belgium's Vlaams Blok, the far-right party disbanded after a court said it broke anti-racist laws.

None of them are as obviously clubbable as Nige and he may want shot of them after the election. But they have been his Euro-mates for a while.

Domestically Ukip talks a good game. We only want respectable types, it says. But as Jeremy Hunt has pointed out , it does seem effortlessly able to attract — among the decent — a proportion of rum characters.

When they say racist, Islamophobic or plain offensive things, Farage wields the stick. But even he must wonder why they pitch up on his party's doorstep in the first place. Andre Lampitt, we know. Having starred in the latest Ukip TV ad, he was outed for dismissing Ed Miliband as "a Pole", asserting that Enoch Powell was right, Islam was Satanic and that Africans should be left to "kill themselves". He has since been suspended. And then there was David Silvester , the councillor who attributed the winter floods to gay marriage.

William Henwood popped up this week, calling for Lenny Henry, who seeks equality in the creative arts, to emigrate to "a black country".

These were outriders, perhaps. But what about fellow MEP Gerard Batten , who called for British Muslims to sign a special code of conduct promising not to engage in violent jihad.

Farage said that wasn't party policy. And would any other party have welcomed to a senior post Neil Hamilton, the disgraced poster boy of the cash for questions scandal? His election role has reportedly been downgraded , but he's still deputy chair.