I think it may be more important to ponder on why such a large proportion of your population have been kept in political ignorance

That one's easy to answer. It makes the majority of us easier to control. However, if you find that the media is being dumbed down in the UK, as Greg Stephens has suggested is happening, you might have reason to be concerned about why that would be happening, and whether or not you want to get to the point where we in the US are today (and how you can prevent it if it is happening).