On the fringe

June 2009
Maxim Institute Newsletter

This week's European elections have let loose a political earthquake, with centre-right and hard-line fringe parties attracting support across Europe. In the United Kingdom, driven by low voter turnout and fury over economic stagnation, expense scandals and corruption, the "ultra-nationalist" British National Party took two seats in the troubled North.

In the UK, just 34 percent cast their votes, with traditional Labour supporters either staying home or swinging to the BNP, delivering Labour a record low 15 percent of the vote, beaten by the Conservatives and the Euro-sceptic UK Independence Party. The low turnout, together with the rise of extreme and radical voices like the BNP, brings into sharp focus the fragility of the democratic process. Why would such parties attract this support?

Democracy is based on a relationship of trust—a sense that the people we elect to govern us make laws for all, for the common good. When the political process is seen as corrupt or unresponsive, and politicians as self- serving hacks, then democracy is in trouble, as we see in the United Kingdom. Parties like the British National Party provide a home for repugnant racism and thuggery. But at the same time, the mainstream parties should ask themselves why the BNP's message resonates. The description made by BNP's Nick Griffin, of Britain as a "bankrupt slum," and his unabashed advocacy for Britishness, strikes a chord with many people who are concerned about immigration and cohesion, disconnected from the mainstream, distrustful of politics and angry about the direction of the country.

The success of the BNP is the failure of the mainstream parties, both Labour and the Conservatives. It shows an erosion of trust—the vital currency of democracy. On their watch, concerns have grown about immigration, employment, cohesion and identity. People have become disengaged. To paraphrase Roger Scruton, laws fail to work when "we" becomes "they," as in "they'll do what they like" and "they're at it again." Bringing people back into the process and away from the fringe will require listening to public anger rather than discounting it. It will require creative and courageous solutions to social disconnection. And it requires a trust in the people, in their communities and institutions. It is these things that bring people in from the fringe, and yoke them into a wider fabric of belonging. It is these things which will strangle the ugly spectre of racism and bigotry.

Read the EU election result

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City: A Call to Service." Additional details about "Homeless" are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. Note: A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.