Young People, Political Participation and Trust in Britain

Abstract

Young people in Britain are often characterised as disconnected from the formal political process and from democratic institutions. Certainly their rate of abstention in general election contests over the last decade has led to concerns amongst the political classes that they have a disaffection from politics that is deeply entrenched and more so than was the case with previous youth generations, and may in the future become habit-forming. In this article, we

The changing role of students’ unions within contemporary higher education

“…Political engagement of young people and students Recent work on young people's engagement with formal politics has suggested that patterns have been relatively stable over the past decade or so: although young men and young women are interested in political matters, this is rarely translated into involvement in electoral politics (Henn and Foard, 2012;Phelps, 2012). Indeed, a large number of young people feel that they cannot influence decision-making at national level, and have a deep antipathy towards and distrust of political parties and professional politicians (Henn and Foard, 2012).…”

“…Indeed, a large number of young people feel that they cannot influence decision-making at national level, and have a deep antipathy towards and distrust of political parties and professional politicians (Henn and Foard, 2012). Nevertheless, there is now strong evidence that many young men and young 4 women have a strong civic orientation and close involvement in other forms of political activity (Martin, 2012).…”

Theorizing Citizenship in Citizen Journalism

“…(Faulks 2000, 6) Outside of the citizen journalism literature, debates about what constitutes citizenship are a major feature of a significant body of academic literature (Putnam 2000;Annette 2010). Research has challenged idealistic conceptions of citizen behavior in terms of traditional practices of engagement and participation, looking at the variation in both the degree to and means by which people practice their citizenship (Amnå and Ekman 2013;Eveland 2004;Graber 2004;Henn and Foard 2012;Hooghe and Dejaeghere 2007;Hustinx et al 2012;Livingstone and Markham 2008;Lund 2006;Schudson 1998;Walker 2002), particularly in relation to new media technologies (Bennett et al 2009;Coleman and Blumler 2012;Gerodimos 2008;Gil de Zúñiga et al 2012;Ikeda and Boase 2011;Kaufhold et al 2010;Pasek et al 2009;Scheufele and Nisbet 2002). Such literature highlights tensions within debates around citizenship, for instance in the distinction between civic and political citizenship (Heater 2004a(Heater , 2004bTheiss-Morse and Hibbing 2005;Annette 2010), revealing that the concept of the citizen is not an uncontested label to simply be tacked onto journalism.…”

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

“…Diffusion of PCT into mainstream consciousness via academics, think tanks, youth policies and politicians themselves has been an important factor in increasing the scepticism towards political actors across all cohorts [18,67]. However, young people are more likely than their older contemporaries to express doubts about the current system of government and are particularly critical of the motives of politicians [68].…”