Sad but very much true. Political awareness seems at a minimum by my experience- having studied politics at A level I was exposed to the sort of enthusiasm I wish the general public would practice, but real life situations have proven otherwise- for example, when discussing the local elections with my hairdresser once, she said "I voted UKIP 'cause I don't like the EU"; her reason for saying so being that "they make loadsa laws". <A88>
That's because the political candidates don't have a bloody clue about what they are talking about. It's no wonder voters can't passively differentiate the policies of one candidate to that of another.
It took an entire study to work this out? I'm quite surprised. "Joe Public" as it were, will simply pick up on one or two things from a political party, that is benificial to them, and after this point, looking into the rest of the promises laid out by a party is secondary. So a party can basically give out a promise that everyone can relate to, and once they get elected, do absolutly nothing about it, while hiking up taxes, and doing all manner of other things, that people wouldn't have realised from the start. To simplify this: Political Party Rep. "We promise to cut down on crime, while adding more road tax to a car with more than a 1.1l engine Mr. Public "Wow...they're going to cut down on crime. i'll vote for them, as my neighbourhood is crime-ridden" 6 months later, crime is still rife in the area, and people are paying more to tax a car. End result being the goverment has more money. And yet has not done anything for it, apart from empty promises.
That looks like the story of every democracy distilled Brooxy. I CBA to get into politics, but i still think the system sucks...