Politics with Paul
Politics with Paul
Approachable, nonpartisan, and nonideological analysis of various political topics by nonpartisan political analyst, writer, researcher, and speaker Paul Rader.
Paul Rader
PodcastAI
PodcastAI

Politics with Paul #50: Political Apathy - Why it's Dangerous and How We Can Fix it

E51 • Jul 22, 2025 • 62 mins

It's episode 50! There are some Americans who simply don't care about politics, or at least not nearly to the extent they should. In some respects, these citizens have a responsibility to care about politics, and to inform themselves about what is going on. At the same time, however, there are understandable reasons why some citizens throw up their hands and tune out politics. To effectively tackle the problem of political apathy, we must examine all these root causes and how to address each of them, not just simply blame people for their apathy. How do we measure political apathy? Which citizens tend to be more apathetic? In what ways does political apathy manifest? Why are some voters apathetic? And: Why does political apathy pose such a threat, including unintentionally contributing to our nation's polarization? All this and more is on tap for today's podcast.

Key Points

  • Political apathy exacerbates issues like polarization and toxicity in our political climate.
  • To some extent, citizens are responsible for how much they care about politics, but there are also understandable reasons people have for being apathetic.
  • There are a lot of reasons people have for being politically apathetic, including difficulty in accessing quality info, a perception of a lack of representation in government, and disillusionment with politics.
  • To effectively address political apathy requires targeting its root causes, including the need to improve civic education, make quality political information more easily accessible, and demonstrate the negative consequences of not participating in politics.
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify

Speakers

Paul Rader

Host • 100%

Chapters

0:00
Introduction to Political Apathy
2:58
How Do We Define Apathy?
6:15
How Do We Measure Political Apathy?
22:31
Which People Tend to Be More Apathetic?
30:23
Why are Some People Politically Apathetic?
45:55
Why Political Apathy is a Major Problem
53:44
How Do We Become Less Politically Apathetic?
1:01:11
Closing and Media

Transcript

Loading transcript...

- / -