Of course, such a claim obviously conflicts with reality. Wow, a one-party state had low turnout, I guess everyone is satisfied with the status quo. What a crock.
> You may think you are sending a message by not voting
> but the ruling class interprets the message differently than you
> intended. They think you are happy and just too lazy to vote.
Corporate media claims that lower voter turnout is a threat to "democracy" and the status quo. And those claims are much more visible then that of Bourgeois political scientists.
I'm actually more interested in getting a message to the proletariat then the ruling class. Politics is inherently corrupting. As parties begin to gain prominance they tend to become more concerned with gaining more power then with their core principles. Power corrupts. As that process continues they move to the right and eventually lose whatever radical ideas they had. Look what happened to the once great Social Democratic parties of Europe. They were once anti-capitalist. Then they became reformist. Now they're becoming Neoliberal. When the Greens gained power in Germany they slid to the right, with many NeoLiberal characteristics.
> I'm not arguing for their point of view - just saying that is how
> they see non-voting, in the absence of other major social disruptions or
> truely massive organizing.
The coming years will see major social unrest. We are at the start of a new wave of activism, similar to the '60s or '30s. The less rescources are wasted on electioneering the greater and deeper that unrest will be. Massive unrest combined with low voter turnout will send a strong message.
Joe R. Golowka JoeG at ieee.org
"Candidates say "vote for me, and I will do so-and-so for you." Few believe them, but more important, a different process is unthinkable: that in their unions, political clubs, and other popular organizations people should formulate their own plans and projects and put forth candidates to represent them. Even more unthinkable is that the general public should have a voice in decisions about investment, production, the character of work, and other basic aspects of life. The minimal conditions for functioning democracy have been removed far beyond thought, a remarkable victory of the doctrinal system." -- Noam Chomsky