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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.

Young Cosmopolitans Against Brexit The June 2016 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union provided a major shock to the political establishment. The decision to leave the EU, by a margin of 52-48%, represented a rejection of what the vast majority of political and business elites considered to be in the country's best economic interests, in preference to returning sovereignty over political decision-making to the United Kingdom and reducing net migration. The Leave campaign was characterized by populist appeals to national identity and the (perceived) cultural threat posed by European integration. It also sought to capitalize on strong anti-establishment sentiment towards the British political elite. These events must be viewed within the broader context of the rise of authoritarian-nationalist forms of populism: from the success of farright parties in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Freedom Party in Austria, the Law and Justice party in Poland, and Fidesz in Hungary, to the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

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