Popular Understandings of Politics in Britain, 1937 − 2014

This paper reports initial findings from a project currently funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council on ‘Popular understandings of politics in Britain, 1937-2014’. The context for the project is alienation and withdrawal from formal politics in many countries at the present time. In Britain, election turnout, party membership, and trust in politicians are all declining. Missing from research to date on this topic are the voices of citizens, in which can be found their shifting understandings, expectations, and judgements regarding politics and politicians. The overall aim of the study is to understand better what and how British citizens have thought about formal politics since the late 1930s (when relevant datasets begin). This aim translates into three objectives: 1) to establish the range of popular understandings of politics among British citizens; 2) to establish changes in prominence of certain popular understandings over time; and 3) to suggest causes for these changes. Two main pieces of work make up the research. First, a contextual review of existing quantitative data helps to establish broad trends, fluctuations, and cycles of public opinion regarding formal politics. Sources consulted include survey results from Gallup, National Opinion Polls, and Ipsos-MORI. Second, qualitative data from the Mass Observation Archive helps to display shared understandings of politics in British society at particular historical moments. The paper outlines the research project and reports initial findings from across the study, but with a particular focus on qualitative data from the Mass Observation Archive.