Electoral Involvement
One potential consequence of the spreading distrust in political parties may be declining involvement in elections and other aspects of partisan politics.
Turnout in elections has generally decreased across the advanced industrial democracies, especially over the past decade (Franklin 2004; Wattenberg 2003). In Italy, for instance, turnout decreased from 90 per cent in the 1979 parliamentary elections to 81 per cent in 2001, which is about typical for the decline in other Western democracies. At the same time, other forms of campaign activity – such as attending party rallies, working for political
parties, or displaying campaign materials – has also declined (Dalton and Wattenberg 2000: ch. 3). The erosion of trust in political parties may have contributed to these trends. Although there are long-standing debates on whether political support stimulates or discourages participation in elections (Dalton 2004: ch.8; Norris 1999), the impact of trust in parties seems more predictable.
Individuals who distrust the reliability of parties and the system of party
government have less incentive to become active in a campaign structured
around party politics. In contrast, citizens who trust parties presumably want
their party to win at the next election and participate to achieve this end.