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

Abstract

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 generation's 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 andto a lesser extentgender. 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 people's patterns of (dis)engagement with politics.

Neoliberalism and the Unfolding Patterns of Young People’s Political Engagement and Political Participation in Contemporary Britain

“…They are also disappointed with policies offered by political parties, suggesting that there is little to separate the policy direction of political parties [10] and that such policies are not relevant to young people [27]. Contemporary youth are also disinclined to involve themselves in political party structures as they feel they are hierarchical and centralised, offering little opportunity for them to influence the creation of policy exchange information with political representatives [8,11]. Consequently, there is substantial evidence that young people are now replacing participation in formal politics with engagement with alternative (often more individualistic) forms of political action (boycotting, attending demonstrations, signing petitions) [11,38,39].…”

“…While conventional wisdom suggests this reluctance to participate may be due to young people's indifference towards politics, a number of scholars, associated with the anti-apathy school [7], have suggested that the relationship between contemporary youth and formal politics is far more complex. Their studies indicate that far from being apathetic, young people are interested in politics and support democracy [8], but don't trust the motives of politicians [9] and are unhappy with political parties for being remote, hierarchical and centralised [10]. Closely aligned to the anti-apathy thesis is the notion that young people are rejecting formal politics and are channelling their political activities into alternative forms of political engagement [11].…”

“…They also exhibit a deep awareness about the political issues that influence their lives [35] and believe that voting is important [36]. In fact, not only do contemporary youth have a good understanding of politics and believe that voting is important, they are also keen supporters of democracy [8].…”

“…Young people, however, have been critical of the uniform policies offered by political parties and have cited the increasing similarity of political parties as a reason for avoiding electoral participation. Moreover, contemporary youth have stated that political parties don't offer policies which consider the needs of young people [8,39], and this is likely to continue in a political system which consistently prioritises the median voter and economic technocracy.…”

“…This is compounded by the internalisation by young people of the claim that political actors are unable to make meaningful change and by political interactions which are becoming increasingly coercive [8,22,29]. In particular, the transition to neoliberal economics has politically disenfranchised young people, through the inequality that has occurred as a consequence of the operation of neoliberal ideology in practice-this is particularly evident under current austerity conditions within the context of the ongoing global recession [2,23].…”