Young people are shaking up the political landscape and changing the rules of the game. A game which older generations have always won. This is being done by redefining political participation. My examples are:

• Young people protesting against Boris Johnson’s first appointment as Prime Minister
• The protest I witnessed in November where students in Uxbridge (go students!) campaigned against Boris Johnson while advocating voting

This indicates young people adopt issue-based forms of participation and combine protesting with voting/voting intention. These discourses of us as an apathetic mass obsessed with our phones or as alienated from politics therefore need dismantling (Norris, 2004).

However, what triggers these discourses?

These discourses derive from statistics which highlight age divides in voting. For instance- Between 1964 and 2005 a 5-35% gap existed in voting turnouts of people aged 18-24 and 65+ (Parliament, 2017). Similar trends persist currently:

Figure 1: Estimated turnout among adults (IPSOS Mori, 2019).

This is reflected above which shows people 65+ had 70-74% turnout in recent general elections and the EU referendum, while 18-24-year olds turnout remained below 54%.

These discourses of disengaged young people also derive from findings British youth participate in alternative politics such as protesting and boycotting 20% less than older groups (Sloam, 2016). These age inequalities across the political participation spectrum have been attributed to UK politics centralised nature, which according to Sloam (2016), alienates young people by preventing them from influencing the political process. Indeed, some argue young people are monitorial citizens who only get involved in politics when issues stimulate them as they feel disconnected from politics (Schudson, 1998, cited in Martin, 2014: 63-64)

However, onto my argument, are we not slightly changing the rules of the game by diversifying political engagement (our involvement with politics) or to be more fancy active citizenship? This means participation in civil society, community or political life, being respectful and non-violent and adhering to human rights and democracy (Hoskins, 2006). This diversification is shown below:

Figure 2: Political participation across Europe by age (Sloam, 2016).

For instance- Sloam (2016) shows we are slightly changing the rules of the game by displaying a badge/sticker and demonstrating, and combining this with voting more than older generations. Even in Britain we are still participating.

How can this be explained then?

The post-materialist thesis seems good to me. This posits material circumstances in childhood influence values and a shift from materialist values amongst older generations to postmaterialist values amongst younger generations has occurred (Inglehart and Welzel, 2005). This therefore explains young peoples preference for demonstrating from figure 2 as postmaterialists who grow up in prosperity prioritise self-expression which is more conducive to issue based participation (Inglehart and Welzel, 2005). Furthermore, Henn, Oldfield and Hart (2018) found postmaterialists adopt voting when necessary which explains why the youth combine protests with voting more. For the critics though, Henn, Oldfield and Hart (2018) found austerity has not reduced postmaterialism. So be quiet.

But you might be thinking disengaged British youth are exempt? Well, think otherwise as I believe young Britons that politically engage are postmaterialists changing the rules of the game by diversifying political engagement.

Where is this change visible? Well, how about the protests in July 2019 about new PM Boris Johnson? These were frequented by young people chanting ‘F**k Boris’ (Russell, 2019). Placards abound, young voices were strong. For me, these display young postmaterialists changing the rules of the game expressing themselves through protesting.

It gets better though.

In November, I witnessed more young people (mainly students) changing the rules of the game by protesting in Uxbridge against Boris Johnson running for local MP.

Video by Dazed (2019).

I remember being struck by their passion and rubbing my eyes with disbelief that young protesters were on my doorstep. Young voices were getting louder! And civility politics were dismantled again as young people stopped being civil and employed offensive language (Spotify, 2019). What interested me most though was the protesters emphasising voting as it epitomises young postmaterialists changing the rules of the game. Mainly because it supports figure 2 and Henn, Oldfield and Hart’s (2018) contention young people combine demonstrating with voting. Judging from these protesters passion anyway, they probably voted.

Of course we cannot guarantee this. But surely, us participating in protesting and advocating voting shows we are politically sophisticated beings changing the rules of the game by creating new forms of political expression? Indeed, perhaps a youthquake where young people can incite real social change is looming (Allsop and Kisby, 2019).

This does not mean though we can ignore aforementioned age inequalities in voting and narrow age differences in non-electoral participation. Otherwise politicians will continue prioritising old people (The grey vote)

I therefore urge ALL YOUNG PEOPLE to vote and protest etc as the solution. This should ensure politicians take us seriously and increase democracy’s representativeness! Then we can win this game by being the best active citizens. The change has only just begun with my examples! We MUST continue it.

That’s me done, do you think we are changing the rules of the game?

Word count: 807.

Bibliography:
Allsop, B. and Kisby, B. (2019) The “Youthquake” in British Politics: Myth or Reality? Societies. 9 (68) pp. 1-15. DOI: 10.3390/soc9040068

Dazed (2019) Watch Highlights from the Fck Boris Protest in Uxbridge. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/46953/1/fck-boris-johnson-protest-in-uxbridge-uk-general-election-2019-ali-Milani (Accessed: 27th February 2020).

Henn, M., Oldfield, B. and Hart, J. (2018) Post materialism and young people’s political participation in a time of austerity. The British Journal of Sociology. 69 (3) pp. 712-737.

Hoskins, B. (2006) Draft Framework on Indicators for Active Citizenship. Ispra: CRELL.

Inglehart, R. and Welzel, C. (2005) Modernisation, Cultural Change and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ipsos Mori (2019) How the voters voted in the 2019 election. Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2019-12/general-election-2019-poll-aggregate-v8.pdf (Accessed: 23rd February 2020).

Martin. A.J. (2014) Young People and Politics: Political Engagement in the Anglo-American Democracies. Routledge: Oxfordshire.

Norris, P. (2004) Young People & Political Activism: From the Politics of Loyalties to the Politics of Choice? Civic engagement in the 21st Century: Toward a Scholarly and Practical Agenda. October 1st- 2nd. pp. 1-32.

Parliament (2017) House of Commons Library, Turnout at Elections. Available at: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8060%23fullreport (Accessed: 23rd February 2020).

Russell, R. (2019) ‘F*** Boris!’ Furious anti-Johnson protestors light flares as they march on Downing Street. Express, 25th July. Available at: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1157508/boris-johnson-news-latest-prime-minister-protest-london (Accessed: 24th February 2020).

Sloam, J. (2016) Diversity and voice: The political participation of young people in the European Union. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 18 (3) pp. 521-537. DOI: 10.1177/1369148116647176

Spotify (2019) #13: Civility Politics. [Podcast]. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Km6seQF8Xfs05XbQNsKLK (Accessed: 28th February 2020).