Young People of Britain (Need to Vote, Please Vote!)
I think it wouldn’t be fair to say that young people aren’t politically engaged like some MP’s have said in the media. I also think it’s fair to say that young people need to be more politically engaged. You might be thinking I’m crazy but young people although they may not vote in the same numbers as the older generations they contribute to a lot of political activity. “In established European democracies, young people are more likely to sign petitions, display a badge or sticker, participate in demonstrations, and express their political views in online forums than the population as a whole”(European Commission 2007). So it’s fair to say they do their bit. So now to why I believe that they need to be more politically engaged. It’s not that the effort is not there from young people, for me it’s not as effective as it could be and not channelled in the right areas. The examples made by the European commission are great signs for political engagement from young people but are they the most effective ways to make the greatest impact on politics so we have the best chance of seeing actual change in the areas we want it to. An emphasis on voting among young people needs to be a bigger priority. It might be the case that the people involved in the badge wearing and petition signing for example do already vote so that might not be the problem.
(London School of Economics, 2010)
So I think efforts should be in spreading the awareness and importance of voting as well spreading the importance of being actively involved in local politics within your community. So that young non-believers (youth that believe politics is a scam because many do) can start being educated better in understanding how simple political activism can be when given the right tools and understanding. So that we can change those huge numbers of young people who don’t vote and who think that politics is too complicated and confusing as by doing this they will be more involved in deciding what they want from this country’s future.
Across European democracies voting has decreased across the board (Fieldhouse et al, 2007) political party memberships have seen an increase in older members but not younger (van Biezen et al, 2012). Voting from young people is significantly low thus young people are finding themselves more isolated from electoral politics than ever before (Spannring et al, 2008). Is this due to the fact that young people do not have faith or trust in their governments so they believe voting is pointless? There is a lack of connection and communication of politics from politicians to young people in this country and when they do communicate young people simply cannot relate and think them to be false. Young people see politicians as being more concerned with them getting their vote than them actually changing something young people desire. Young people over past elections have seen politicians lie about what they said they were going to do when in power which adds to the mistrust and lack of hope felt by young people. Clearly from the many young people that don’t vote they simply do not believe that their vote or contribution will actually benefit their needs, as they feel politicians aren’t hearing their voices. They are right to think this too. Austerity cuts have left students with increased tuition fees of 9,000 per year, child poverty has risen, unemployment benefits for under 25s has had cuts made to it and education and facilities to young people has had cuts to it (Sloam, 2013). No wonder young people do not vote. I’m here to tell you young people who don’t believe in voting to change your ways. There might not be a party you 100% trust and believe in but by not voting you are giving parties power running our country in a way you would not like. Whereas if you vote for a party with a leader you’ve voted in you have more of a chance of getting what you want from the government.
(BBC, 2014)
So where do we go from here, young people need to be taught in what they can do themselves to make aid in making a difference and ultimately need to turn out for voting. Sloam believes that young people will be more politically engaged if there is better education and information as well as greater attempts from local political players in involving young people in politics (Sloam, 2007). Sloam believes this would be most significant at low level councils where young people can have their views listened too (ibid). Sloam discusses that by young people not voting it can do more damage to their chances of their calls being answered by politicians. Sloam describes that politicians may not be concerned with answering to young people if they know that they are not going to vote (ibid). Politicians may be less concerned with involving young people over getting into to power so they answer to older generations wants as they know that they are guaranteed to vote which will result in them being elected (ibid).
Bibliography
Amin, M. (2010). The benefits and costs of joining a political party. Available: http://www.mohammedamin.com/Politics/The_benefits_and_costs_of_joining_a_political_party.html.
BBC. (2014). Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26271935
European Commission (2007). Young Europeans: Survey Among Young People Aged Between 15–30 in the European Union (Eurobarometer 202), European Commission, available at http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_202_sum_en.pdf
Fieldhouse, E., M. Tranmer, and A. Russell (2007). ‘‘Something about Young People or Something about Elections? Electoral Participation of Young People in Europe: Evidence from a Multilevel Analysis of the European Social Survey’’, European Journal of Political Research, 46, 797–822.
London School of Economics . (2010). Available: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/is-the-uk-electorate-disengaged/
Sloam, J. (2007). Rebooting democracy: Youth participation in politics in the UK. Parliamentary affairs, 60(4), 548-567.
Sloam, J. (2013). ‘Voice and Equality’: Young People’s Politics in the European Union. West European Politics, 36(4), 836-858
Spannring, R., G. Ogris, and W. Gaiser, eds. (2008). Youth and Political Participation in Europe. Results of the Comparative Study of EUYOUPART. Opladen: Barbara Budrich.
Van Biezen, I., P. Mair, and T. Poguntke (2012). ‘Going, going, … Gone? The Decline of Party Membership in Contemporary Europe’, European Journal of Political Research, 51, 24–56.