And though Saul does not develop this theme much further, I ask myself what relationship this official passivity and faux fatalism bears to the documented decline in voter turnouts over the period in question...

And, DeAnander, I ask myself why you ask yourself :).

Of all assertions made by Saul, this is probably the easiest to back up. Why would citizens invest themselves in politics if the first thing politicians do is to assert their powerlessness? Why bother?