Taking Back Control: Why ‘Agency’ Could Be The Next Big Idea In Politics (James Kanagasooriam)

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?


TIMECODES


(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


GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
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.