Why ‘Agency’ Could Be The Next Big Idea In Politics

On this week’s episode, leading pollster James Kanagasooriam explains how a sense of powerlessness amongst voters is shaping politics.

His research suggests that people who feel like they have control over their lives are more likely to vote for traditional parties whereas those who don’t tend to vote for populists promising to change the status quo.

So what can we learn from this and how could the idea of ‘agency’ help solve some of Britain’s problems?

(00:04:12) Why James thinks agency is the next big idea in politics
(00:11:34) What does agency say about politics today?

(00:16:30) Degradation of civic institutions and cultural loss
(00:29:29) Cultural pessimism
(00:34:41) The attention economy
(00:40:17) Trade-offs
(00:45:19) The impact of Covid
(00:48:29) James’ radical solutions
(00:52:06) Amol’s reflections
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Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One.

Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast.

It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd.

Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis and Jem Westgate.

Technical production was by Dave O'Neill.

The editor is Sam Bonham.

The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

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