M Henn

A Generation Apart? Youth and Political Participation in Britain:

Conventional wisdom holds that young people in Britain are alienated from politics, with some claiming that this reflects a wider crisis of legitimacy that should be met by initiatives to increase citizenship. This article addresses these areas, presenting both panel survey and focus group data from first-time voters. It concludes that, contrary to the findings from many predominantly quantitative studies of political participation, young people are interested in political matters, and do support the democratic process. However, they feel a sense of anticlimax having voted for the first time, and are critical of those who have been elected to positions of political power. If they are a generation apart, this is less to do with apathy, and more to do with their engaged scepticism about ‘formal’ politics in Britain.

Uninterested Youth? Young People's Attitudes towards Party Politics in Britain

Following the outcome of the 2001 and 2005 general elections, when the numbers of abstainers outweighed the numbers of Labour voters on both occasions, much attention has focused upon the state of British democracy and how to enthuse the electorate, especially young people. Whilst the government is exploring ways to make the whole process of voting easier, it may be failing to tackle the real problem – that youth appear to find the business of politics uninviting and irrelevant. This paper examines data derived from a nationwide survey of more than 700 young people in order to shed light on what lies at the heart of young peoples apparent disengagement from formal politics in Britain – political apathy or a sense of political alienation. The findings reveal that they support the democratic process, but are sceptical of the way the British political system is organised and led and are turned off by politicians and the political parties. However, there is no uniform youth orientation to politics, and the data indicate that views differ according to social class, educational history and also gender. However both ethnicity and region of the country in which young people live seem to have little influence in structuring political attitudes and behaviour.

Social differentiation in young people's political participation: the impact of social and educational factors on youth political engagement in Britain

Over the course of the last decade, policy makers in Britain have become increasingly concerned about the apparent and persisting withdrawal by young people from the formal political process. In this article, the authors consider the results from a representative online national survey of 1025 British 18-year-olds conducted in 2011, including both those who voted at the 2010 General Election and those who did not. The findings reveal that young people do profess a commitment to the political process, although they consider that there are relatively few opportunities available for them to intervene effectively in formal political life. Our study also indicates that there is no uniform youth orientation to politics, and the data reveal that this generations engagement with formal politics is complex and nuanced. Social class and educational history both appear to have a crucial bearing on political engagement, while views also differ according to ethnicity and – to a lesser extent – gender. The authors also consider the findings from 14 online focus groups with 86 young people who opted not to vote at the 2010 General Election. These findings enable us to consider what influenced these young peoples patterns of (dis)engagement with politics.

Young people and political (in)activism: why don't young people vote?

Continued experimentation with methods to make the process of voting easier signals a growing concern amongst politicians that the public is becoming increasingly disaffected from politics in Britain. However, these government initiatives may be failing to tackle the real problem—that the electorate appear to find the business of politics uninviting and irrelevant. In this article we examine the results from a nationwide survey of over 700 young people, and find that this generation, whilst supportive of these new electoral methods, are unlikely to be persuaded to turnout to vote while they continue to feel marginalised from the political process.

Social capital and political participation: understanding the dynamics of young people's political disengagement in contemporary Britain

Only 37 per cent of young people voted at the 2005 British General Election, seemingly confirming the oft-cited view that this generation is becoming increasingly disconnected from the political process. Results from a nationwide survey however, indicate that their withdrawal from formal politics is more a result of their scepticism of the way the political system operates, than apathy. Furthermore, they are diverse in their political (dis)engagement. Results from an examination of the relative effects of socio-economic location and social capital are inconclusive, although the data indicate that government social policy aimed at mobilising social capital and addressing socio-economic issues may increase civic engagement.

Young people and contemporary politics: committed scepticism or engaged cynicism?

Growing concern about public disaffection with the British political process and its institutions has manifested itself in a number of ways. Whilst some have addressed the apparent decline in electoral participation, others have sought to assess and understand the motivations and interests of specific groups within the population such as women and those belonging to ethnic minorities. Recently, attention has also begun to focus on young peoples engagement with the political process. This concern was borne out by a campaign launched in the run-up to the 1997 General Election. Backed by a cross-party alliance, the music industry initiative Rock the Vote urged young people to make sure they were entered on the electoral register so that they might exercise their democratic rights. Symbolically the campaign’s May 1996 launch event took place at the prestigious Ministry of Sound club in London’s West End. In promoting itself Rock the Vote attempted to reinforce the idea that, collectively, the youth vote could play a potentially important role in British politics. There is a perception that young people are increasingly seen as being politically important. During the last general election the victorious Labour Party made a concerted effort to target youth with a specially produced promotional video and advertising in magazines and even nightclubs. Similarly, following their defeat, the Conservatives opted to elect William Hague as their new leader in a clear vote of confidence in youth over experience. Hague, in a bid to make his age part of his appeal, has talked of a ‘fresh start’, worn a baseball cap and attended the Notting Hill carnival.

Cajoling or coercing: would electoral engineering resolve the young citizen-state disconnect?

ABSTRACT The relationships between citizens and their states are undergoing significant stresses across advanced liberal democracies. In Britain, this disconnect is particularly evident amongst young citizens. This article considers whether different electoral engineering methods – designed either to cajole or compel youth to vote – might arrest the decline in their political engagement. Data collected in 2011 from a national survey of 1025 British 18-year-olds and from focus groups involving 86 young people reveal that many young people claim that they would be more likely to vote in future elections if such electoral reforms were implemented. However, it is questionable whether or not such increased electoral participation would mean that they would feel truly connected to the democratic process. In particular, forcing young people to vote through the introduction of compulsory voting may actually serve to reinforce deepening resentments, rather than engage them in a positive manner.

The ‘new’ rhetoric of new labour in comparative perspective: A three‐country discourse analysis

Over the past two decades, social democratic‐labour parties (SDLPs) have been confronted by various challenges which have had a dramatic impact upon their ideological orientation. These include, not least, emerging challenger parties, as well as the Neo‐Liberal discourse of the New Right. In this article, we compare the ideological positioning of three parties in Sweden, Germany, and particularly Great Britain. We conclude that the ideological profile of ‘New Labour’ now largely mirrors those of other SDLPs. The results are based upon a content analysis of the 1994 (Germany and Sweden) and 1997 (Great Britain) election rhetoric in party manifestos and television debates. The analysis centres on the extent to which the three SDLPs refer to the discourses of socialism, the welfare state, neo‐liberalism and ecologism.

Postmaterialism and young people's political participation in a time of austerity

Recent trends suggest that young people in Britain are refraining from engaging in formal political processes. At the same time, they are increasingly expressing support for, and turning toward, a new and diverse range of non-institutionalized forms of political action in order to actualize their interests. Using Ingleharts ideas on postmaterialism, we consider whether this apparent rejection of mainstream politics in favour of less conventional - and sometimes radical - forms of political action is changing over time in Britain, reflecting fluctuating economic conditions witnessed over the last two decades. We do this by comparing results from surveys of British 18 year olds conducted in 2002 during an era of relative global prosperity, and then in 2011 at the height of the current global crisis. The findings suggest that British young postmaterialists are considerably more likely than materialists to participate in and support both institutionalized and non-institutionalized forms of political action.

‘Youthquake’: How and Why Young People Reshaped the Political Landscape in 2017:

POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2018 T he 2017 General Election result was described as a ‘youthquake’ – a shock result founded on an unexpected surge in youth turnout and the overwhelming support of younger voters for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. Ipsos MORI data released after the election, ‘How Britain Voted in 2017’, revealed some dramatic ‘Youthquake’: How and Why Young People Reshaped the Political Landscape in 2017