Youth Participation in Active Politics
It has been noted in recent times that the youth and people of lower socioeconomic statuses are least likely to participate in activities which constitute active politics like voting, political campaigns, and political party membership.[1] Many theories have been advanced to explain this rather worrisome trend which is prevalent in most parts of the world. The relationship between youth and politics is a complex one hence the complexity in discerning the realities of this subject. This paper will attempt to explain this trend by looking at circumstances in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
A 2014 study that was initiated and conducted by the Pew Center for the People and the Press found out that a massive six out of ten adults of voting age would not show up for the mid-term elections which were scheduled for less than a week from the time of the study.[2] The study revealed that the people who were likely not to vote were demographically distinct from the rest. By proportion, 34% of the non-voters were aged below thirty years of age while 70% were aged below 70 years of age.[3] The study also revealed that non-voters were racially diverse and that a person’s race had little to do with their desire and likelihood to participate in active politics. The non-voters were notably less-affluent that the rest of the population. The study also found out that non-voters were also notably less educated with 54% of them not having completed college compared to 72% of the voters who had completed at least some college level.
In Europe, the situation is not much different. According to O’Toole, the voter turnout among registered voters aged between 18 and 24 years in the 2001 general election was only 39% which was significantly low compared to the rather low general voter turnout of 59.4%.[4] It is more concerning when you notice that this rate had gone down with 27% from the situation in 1997.[5] Moreover, the paper references prior papers which assert that a 21-year-old in current times is far more apolitical, less knowledgeable in conventional politics, less likely to be attached to a political party, and less likely to view their right to vote as a civic responsibility than a 21-year old thirty years ago. The situation in the rest of Europe also represents this reduction in youth participation in active politics. In 2010, the European Social Survey found out that 61% of interviewed people aged between 22 and 29 had participated in the last general election in their country as compared to 78.1% of the people above 30 years.[6]
From this, it is obvious that the participation of youth in mainstream conventional politics has reduced. Political participation gives people the right to express their inner desire for political freedom; to actualize their hope for prosperity, security, and peace; and to express their longing and fight for justice. Why would anyone not want to participate in politics then? Or is it possible that it is the mode of participation which has changed? A report by the Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of Europe suggest that even though study findings indicate a decline in youth participation in active politics, there is no decline, rather the mode of political participation has just undergone transformation.[7] The fact the youth are heavily involved in online political debates, especially on social media somewhat justifies this view.
Ellen Quintelier expounds on this by arguing that young people are not necessarily indifferent to politics, rather they just prefer engaging in newer forms of politics which are not always captured by researchers hence the conclusion of most studies that the youth are apolitical.[8] Lifestyle changes and image problems for youth in regards to formal politics have been incriminated in increasing the tendency of youth towards informal and cause-oriented politics. It has also been argued that some forms of political participation like political consumerism, slogans, youth councils, youth hearings, disruptions, and protest politics which are more informal than voting or political party membership look more attractive to the youth and thus the level of youth participation in such activities is on the rise.[9] For instance, many youths were involved in the anti-war protests in the UK unlike their approach to general elections.[10] If political participation was to viewed in the youths’ own ideas, then political researchers would find higher levels of general political participation than the situation 30 years ago which is the exact opposite of the results that are witnessed in current studies. For a fact, some of the activities which young people engage in and are not classified as political are actually political.
Additionally, in most past survey data that attempted to establish trends in voter turnout, age was simply treated as a number and not a significant factor. This, therefore, means that the data available to show that indeed the youth participate lesser in mainstream politics is insufficient. As such, we cannot conclude that indeed the participation of the youth in active politics is on the decline. According to O’Toole, this inadequacy of past research is compounded by the tendency of such research to narrow the definition of politics to activities like voting and political party membership only[11]. Bynner also finds inconsistencies in past research on youth activities as these studies did not invoke the youths’ own opinion.[12]
Bang suggests that the political culture is changing and it is time for studies to consider these changes.[13] He argues that politics is changing from ideological to issue-oriented. This explains the reduction in participation of youth in things like industrial relations and enhanced participation in issues that seem to affect their daily life directly, for example, environmental preservation.
Far from that, it is also readily evident that youth participation in mainstream or formal politics has gone down. It can be argued that formal politics, especially the act of voting are more important as they are more helpful to a person with political desires they wish to achieve than the informal political activities. There are several reasons why the youth do not participate in conventional politics, the first that comes to one’s minds is that the youth are apathetic. The youth doubt the relevance of voting and view political regimes as insignificant to their daily lives and their daily afflictions.[14][15] Many politicians promise change and heaven during the campaigns; however, most youths do not see politics as an arena for change. This partly explains why youth would prefer engaging on some other platforms where they can express themselves explicitly with a hope that there will be change. Many youths see politics as a muddy swamp of corruption with no imminent change.
Furthermore, youths feel a disconnection to politics and see it as trivial to engage in politics on the basis of change.[16] This polluted outlook of politics is what causes the stereotype that politicians and their closest supporters are just power hungry individuals who are only looking for their own personal gain. This explains the image issues that have been talked mentioned prior. Basically, many youths in North America view politics cynically.
The situation in the UK is not much different. O’Toole suggests that British youth are cynical about politics and do not trust the integrity of politicians.[17] Moreover, most youths do not have much choice between political parties as they do not see the difference between them anyway and are dissatisfied by their local governments. Nevertheless, the youth also rank as the age group which distrusts the government the most.
Secondly, the history of poor youth participation in mainstream politics makes them a less interesting group for the political class. The politicians know that it is the older people who will vote and thus they concentrate their campaigns and other activities on the older people while alienating the youth.[18] Only a few charismatic leaders will dare to engage the youths in their activities. A leader like Obama was charismatic enough to attract the youth, something which explains the slightly higher young voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election. As earlier alluded to, formation and use of popular slogans are an activity that is not captured under mainstream politics but is likely to fascinate the youth – a fact which was perfectly exemplified in the 2008 presidential election. However, most other political leaders are only interested in the people who will actually vote and thus will direct very little of their efforts to the youth. This partly explains the disconnection that is felt by many youths regarding conventional politics. Moreover, recent instances in American and Canadian politics have shown that voter education has been taken less seriously.[19] It can, therefore, be argued that the youth lack experience and knowledge about the importance to them hence their low rates of participation.[20] Political campaigns were interested in already registered voters and did not look to encourage the youth to register and cast their first ballots; something which Utter says undermines youth participation in active politics.[21] Additionally, some enacted rules tend to undermine youth participation in the voting process. For instance, in order to vote, many states in the USA demand for a state-issued ID; many youths do not have driving licenses, passports or hunting licenses which make it very difficult for them to acquire special IDs for voting. To think that this rule was enacted as a measure to suppress voter impersonation which is a negligible problem in the USA gives one the feeling that the legislation was pushed by people who thought that youth participation in the voting process would undermine them. Quintelier suggests that the fact that most young people have not attained a voting age denies them the right to participate in active politics whose climax is the act of voting.[22]
Thirdly, the lifestyles have changed and so has the engagement in active politics. Past studies show that people who are most likely to participate in active politics are the people who have settled down in life, are financially affluent, and are well-educated. It is only when one has those attributes that formal politics will look more appealing to them and will be much more meaningful. The number of youth who are unsettled, are broke, and have low educational achievements according to societal standards has notably increased over the past thirty years hence the reduction in the proportion of youth engaging in mainstream politics over the last thirty years.
It has been projected that in the past, people settled down earlier they do currently. This means that in current times, people kick-start their careers much late and settle even later. In the UK, it has been projected that a good proportion of people between 18 and 24 are yet to settle and are consistently moving from one state to another in search of better opportunities. As such, these people do not have time to register as voters and participate in activities like campaigns or be affiliated with a particular political party. It has been projected that in the 2010 mid-term election in the USA, only 36% of single parents with children of less than five years of age voted.[23] This further proves that marriage and settlement encourage one to participate in politics. An increasing proportion of youth who are yet to marry or settle, accounts for their decreased participation in conventional politics.
Furthermore, socioeconomic status and education have been shown to strongly influence the desire to vote. Young people from more affluent families have been thought to talk about politics more often and to vote more often than those from families of low socioeconomic status. In a 2012 study in America, many people between the ages of 25 and 35 years cited a busy schedule as a reason why they could not have voted. Less affluent people engaging in blue-collar jobs are likely to have busier schedules than affluent individuals holding white-collar jobs. In the UK, O’Toole proposes that young people do not own the extensive resources that are owned by older individuals hence their lesser participation in mainstream politics.[24]
From the discussion above, it is prudent to resist the notion that youth engagement is not on the decline but is only transforming. It is obvious that youth engagement in mainstream politics, which are much more important to the livelihoods of the youth, has declined. Changing in lifestyle are by far the most important cause of this decline. Apathy among the youth regarding the role of politics and the importance of exercising their democratic right to vote is the second main factor. Legislations and political practices that seem to segregate and intimidate the youth since they participate least in political activities also play an important role the declining level of youth participation in mainstream politics.
References
Bang, Henrik Paul. Governance as social and political communication. Manchester University Press, 2003.
Bynner, John. “British youth transitions in comparative perspective.” Journal of youth studies 4, no. 1 (2001): 5-23.
Dalton, Russell J. Engaging youth in politics: debating democracy’s future. International Debate Education Association, 2011.
Farthing, Rys. “The politics of youthful antipolitics: representing the ‘issue’of youth participation in politics.” Journal of youth studies 13, no. 2 (2010): 181-195.
Fisher, Dana R. “Youth political participation: Bridging activism and electoral politics.” Annual Review of Sociology 38 (2012): 119-137.
Fulwood, Sam. “Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote.” (2015, August 05). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2014/11/06/100627/why-young-minority-and-low-income-citizens-dont-vote/
Horvath, Anna, and Guilia Paolini. “Political participation and EU citizenship: Perceptions and behaviours of young people.” European Commission: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) (2014).
O’Toole, Therese. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” In Consort Polit Res Jt Sess Workshop. 2004.
Quintelier, Ellen. “Differences in political participation between young and old people.” Contemporary politics 13, no. 2 (2007): 165-180.
Utter, Glenn H. Youth and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO, 2011.
[1] O’Toole, Therese. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” (In Consort Polit Res Jt Sess Workshop. 2004) 1
[2] Fulwood, Sam. “Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote.” (2015, August 05). Para 4
[3] Fulwood. “Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote.” Para 4
[4] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 2
[5] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 2
[6] Horvath, Anna, and Guilia Paolini. “Political participation and EU citizenship: Perceptions and behaviours of young people.” (European Commission: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) 2014). 10
[7] Horvath and Paolini. “Political participation and EU citizenship: Perceptions and behaviours of young people.” 12
[8] Quintelier, Ellen. “Differences in political participation between young and old people.” Contemporary politics 13, 2007) 167
[9] Quintelier. “Differences in political participation between young and old people.” 168
[10] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 3
[11] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 3
[12] Bynner, John. “British youth transitions in comparative perspective.” (Journal of youth studies 4, 2001). 21
[13] Bang, Henrik Paul. Governance as social and political communication. (Manchester University Press, 2003). 243
[14] Quintelier. “Differences in political participation between young and old people.” 169
[15] Farthing, Rys. “The politics of youthful antipolitics: representing the ‘issue’of youth participation in politics.” (Journal of youth studies 13, 2010). 186
[16] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 6
[17] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 5
[18] Dalton, Russell J. Engaging youth in politics: debating democracy’s future. (International Debate Education Association, 2011). 6
[19] Fisher, Dana R. “Youth political participation: Bridging activism and electoral politics.” (Annual Review of Sociology 38, 2012). 128
[20] Quintelier. “Differences in political participation between young and old people.” 166
[21] Utter, Glenn H. Youth and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook.(ABC-CLIO, 2011).59
[22] Quintelier. “Differences in political participation between young and old people.” 166
[23] Fulwood. “Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote.” Para 4
[24] O’Toole. “Explaining young people’s non-participation: Towards a fuller understanding of the political.” 3
