James Sloam

New Voice, Less Equal The Civic and Political Engagement of Young People in the United States and Europe

Declining youth participation in conventional forms of politics has become a central theme for academics and policy makers and has often been viewed as marking a crisis in citizenship. Yet there is overwhelming evidence to show that young people are not apathetic. They have their own views and engage in “politics” (more broadly understood) in a wide variety of ways that have relevance to their everyday lives. The following article compares and contrasts the civic and political engagement of young people both within and among the United States, Britain, and Germany. The core arguments are that the forms of engagement practiced by young people are heavily structured in favor of highly educated and well-off citizens and that young people as a group have increasingly been marginalized from electoral politics. However, the different experiences across the three countries give scholars a clearer idea of how these problems might be overcome.

‘The outraged young’: young Europeans, civic engagement and the new media in a time of crisis

Public involvement in traditional political institutions has declined significantly over the past few decades, leading to what some have seen as a crisis in citizenship. This trend is most striking amongst young people, who have become increasingly alienated from mainstream electoral politics in Europe. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence to show that younger citizens are not apathetic about ‘politics’ – they have their own views and engage in democracy in a wide variety of ways that seem relevant to their everyday lives. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, young Europeans have borne the brunt of austerity in public spending: from spiralling youth unemployment, to cuts in youth services, to increased university tuition fees. In this context, the rise and proliferation of youth protest in Europe is hardly surprising. Indeed, youth activism has become a major feature of the European political landscape: from mass demonstrations of the ‘outraged young’ against political corruption and youth unemployment, to the Occupy movement against the excesses of global capitalism, to the emergence of new political parties. This article examines the role that the new media has played in the development of these protest movements across the continent. It argues that ‘digitally networked action’ has enabled a ‘quickening’ of youth participation – an intensification of political participation amongst young, highly educated citizens in search of a mouthpiece for their ‘indignation’.

‘Voice and Equality’: Young People’s Politics in the European Union

Academics and policy-makers have highlighted the increasing disconnection between citizens and electoral politics in Europe. Declining citizen involvement in traditional forms of politics has manifested itself in lower voter turnout and a dramatic shrinkage in the membership of political parties. Citizens have turned to alternative forms of civic and political engagement. These trends are most marked amongst young people. Whilst a number of studies have examined the nature of political participation in Europe, and the participation of young people in individual countries or specific political activities (such as voting), hardly any research has looked at patterns of engagement ‘within’ a generation of young people across different democracies. This article examines the political participation of young Europeans in national democracies in 15 European Union member states. Previous studies have shown that citizens are increasingly moving away from electoral forms of participation towards alternative forms of engagement that are (for the population as a whole) much less socially equal. Using data from the European Social Survey, this article finds that the social inequalities of participation are (with the major exception of voting) much less profound for young people. This latter finding has important implications for public efforts to promote greater youth participation in democracy.

REVITALISING POLITICS: THE ROLE OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION

Citizenship education is an appropriate demand‐side policy response to declining political participation among young people in the UK. There is evidence that its compulsory introduction in secondary schools in England in 2002 is having some success, but its implementation is not without problems. Citizenship classes can be made more effective if they are underpinned by the core principles of experiential and service learning, whereby knowledge, participation and deliberation are linked together in the promotion of active citizenship.

Diversity and voice: The political participation of young people in the European Union

There is widespread concern about declining public involvement in established democracies. Europeans are turning away from mainstream electoral politics towards new forms of political engagement. This is particularly the case for younger citizens. If young people are ‘reinventing political activism’ (Norris, 2002), in which forms of participation and in which countries is it most true? Drawing on data from the European Social Survey, the following article compares and contrasts young people’s politics in the 15 old member states of the European Union. Youth engagement generally reflects a country’s civic-political culture. However, there are significant differences in levels of youth participation, in ratios of youth participation (compared to the adult population as a whole) and in the relative popularity of different forms of political action. The United Kingdom stands out, however, with a disturbingly large gap between the political engagement of young people and older adults.

Is the left alright? The SPD and the renewal of European social democracy

The late 1990s appeared to herald a new dawn for European social democracy. Social democratic governments were elected to office in Germany, the UK and France (and participated in governments in 12 of the 15 EU states). For the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the British Labour Party, this took place after long periods in opposition. For the French Socialist Party (PS), its victory in legislative elections signalled a remarkable comeback after a shattering defeat in 1993. Their rise to power was accompanied by programmatic renewal, symbolised by the ‘Neue Mitte’, the ‘Third Way’, and ‘réalisme de gauche’, and marked by convergence within the context of European integration. Yet this electoral success concealed a number of weaknesses which began to emerge at the start of the 2000s. Hierarchical leaderships, bound by the realities of government, failed to deliver (and/or communicate) distinctive social democratic agendas, undermining linkages to core supporters. This narrative is particularly relevant for recent developments in the SPD, which – after the departure of Gerhard Schröder – faces a period of strategic and programmatic uncertainty.

The ‘Outraged Young’: How Young Europeans are Reshaping the Political Landscape

Declining involvement in politics has long been a concern of academics and policy-makers. Yet young Europeans are today reshaping the political landscape in new ways. These diverse patterns of youth participation reveal much about the health of our democracies, writes James Sloam.

West European social democracy as a model for transfer

West European social democratic parties (SDPs) have to varying degrees provided a model for programmatic change for the communist successor parties (CSPs) of Eastern and Central Europe (ECE). The examples of the British Labour Party, the French Parti Socialiste and the German Social Democrats demonstrate both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors of policy transfer. ‘Policy transfer’ or ‘policy learning’ has taken place to a limited extent through two main channels. SDP policies, first, provided a model for emulation drawing CSPs to policies on the basis of the perceived success of the individual policy and party. Second, learning occurred through the active engagement of the SDPs with their sister parties to the East (‘transfer networks’). The probability of transfer is determined by the ‘proximity’ (geographical, ideological and cultural) of the ‘exporter’ party to the ‘importer’ party. In practice, the German Social Democratic Party has been the most influential of the three SDPs, as a consequence of its greater proximity to the successor parties of Eastern and Central Europe.

Learning from the west: policy transfer and political parties

Policy transfer or policy learning between political parties has become more likely in the context of recent European integration. Parties are now keener to learn from their sister parties in other European countries. The need for new policy programmes was particularly acute for the communist successor parties (CSPs) of Eastern and Central Europe, which had to adapt their policies to new political and socio-economic structures. The subsequent transition period saw a number of CSPs attempt to ‘learn from the West’, often from the social-democratic parties (SDPs) of Western Europe. Policy was transferred between SDPs and CSPs in two main ways: ‘inspiration’ or ‘ideational transfer’; and active engagement through ‘transfer networks’. Nevertheless, SDPs are only one (external) factor in CSP policy making, and local opportunity structures ultimately determine whether a policy is adopted and/or adapted.

Introduction: Youth, Citizenship, and Political Science Education: Questions for the Discipline

The introduction to this volume examines the relationship between youth, citizenship, and political science education. It argues that, at present, false barriers exist between research and teaching, which unnecessarily create distance between political science and real-world politics. In fact, research and teaching are mutually beneficial. The article begins by showing how research into political science education can shed light on existential questions in political science, such as: “What is politics?” and “How do (young) people come to understand politics?” It then discusses how education, politics, and society are interlinked—for researchers and students to understand how politics works, it is necessary for them to engage in “experiential learning.” Finally, the introduction demonstrates how good political science education enhances both pedagogical and democratic goals (as illustrated by the other contributions to this volume), given that good teaching in our discipline inevitably supports the central pillars of civic education.