The Power of Political Responsibility: Debunking the Myth of Political Disengagement among 16-17-year-olds
The “youthquake” in the 2017 general election saw the highest voter turnout of young people aged between 18 to 24 at 64%, levels not seen since the early 1990s (Sloam and Ehsan, 2017). The Brexit battles from the year prior had been seen to energize us young people, who were motivated by our anger at the austerity politics that fraught our government, to push back against the decisions being made that are continuing to impact upon our lives to this very day (Sloam and Ehsan, 2017: 6). However, the voting turnout for this age group in the 2019 general election tells a different story. Only 47% of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in these elections (Ipsos Mori, 2019); a turn of events that denotes the power of political responsibility, when the decisions being made in this country’s political system are taken out of the hands of young people. The difference between these turnout results shows that when young people are faced with decisions that can impact their future, their political responsibility rises; we need to see this energy again, and we can start by lowering the voting age to 16.
(Ipsos Mori, 2019)
The Myth of Political Disengagement among Young People
Debates around lowering the voting age to 16, and the civic engagement of young people have characterized them as being disconnected from politics and having a lack of interest in the British political system (Sloam, 2017; Manning and Edwards, 2014). This apparent lack of interest is used to make the argument that the legitimacy of adding 16-to-17-year-olds to the electorate is undermined by disputes of transitions to adulthood (Loughran, Mycock, and Tonge, 2021: 3). Maturity also plays a role in these notions, as the parameters of ‘adulthood’ assume that the right to vote is exclusive to adult citizens, and anyone below the age of 18 is believed to not be mature enough to have the capabilities to vote (Tonge, Loughran, and Mycock, 2021).
These assumptions of young people fail to capture the power of political responsibility, as giving younger people the right to vote from a younger age can help to foster the levels of civic participation they are supposedly lacking; as well as give them the knowledge of, and ability to exercise their political rights in our democracy (Lowering the Voting Age, No date). Increased youth voter turnout in the EU referendum and the 2017 general election shows that the energy for political engagement is present, but the perception of young people being disconnected from politics omits any room to consider giving 16-to-17-year-olds more political responsibility.
The Generational Divide
This myth of political disengagement is characterized by the attitudes of the older generations towards young people and is not an accurate depiction of the stance of young people in politics. For example, a recent study done shows us these inaccuracies, especially as it pertains to the number of young people in this age group who support the Votes-at-16 initiative. For example, 71% of 16-to-17-year-olds were in support of Votes-at-16, with 40% of this majority voting in favour strongly (Loughran, Mycock, and Tonge, 2021: 9). What is most compelling about these results is that the biggest age group in favour of lowering the voting age is 16-to-17-year-olds themselves; how can young people be so keen to gain their political rights, yet be so politically disengaged at the same time? It is not the disengagement of the young that is the issue here, but rather the attitudes found among the older generations.
(Loughran et al, 2021: 9)
These results also reflect an attitudinal and generational divide in the electorate in terms of support for Votes-at-16. For example, the strongest bivariate relationship in this study came from partisanship and lowering the voting age, with 71% of Labour and 61% of Liberal Democrat voters supporting lowering the voting age compared to only 26% of Conservative voters supporting lowering the voting age (Loughran, Mycock, and Tonge, 2021: 11). Considering historically that older age groups are more likely to vote for the Conservative party, the attitudes around young people and engagement can be characterized in large part by the assumptions of the older members of the electorate. We only must look at the partisan voters in the 2019 general elections to capture this attitudinal divide. 62% of young people aged between 18-24 voted Labour in these elections (Ipsos Mori, 2019). While only 17% of voters aged 65+ voted Labour against the 64% of voters that voted Conservative within this age group (Ipsos Mori, 2019). The attitudinal divides are clearly also generational ones in terms of the majority, and these attitudes are not the reality when there are many 16-to-17-year-olds who advocate for the opportunity to engage themselves in this country’s politics.
(Loughran et al, 2021: 11)
Furthermore, these attitudes are also influenced by fears over the power that the vote of 16-to-17-year-olds would have in realigning the partisan shift in this country. Conservative opponents of ‘Votes-at-16’ view the initiative with the concern of having the potential to enfranchise over 1.5 million young people who would vote for their political opponents (Tonge, Loughran, and Mycock, 2021: 526). The fear that the youth vote will result in a partisan shift in favour of the Labour party accentuates the narrative that young people are disengaged in politics, especially as Votes-at-16 has gained more party advocacy and political traction in recent years, with more people getting behind the movement. ‘Votes-at-16’ has seen success in Wales, with 16-to-17-year-olds gaining the right to vote in the Senedd elections on the 15th of January 2020 (ukvotingage.co.uk, 2020: 2). Lowering the voting age is important for ensuring the future engagement of young people in politics (ukvotingage.co.uk, 2020: 2), as well as leveling the generational divide that has stunted the political responsibility of young people through narratives that protect the interests of older members of the electorate.
Political Responsibility
This country’s attitude toward the political engagement of young people needs to change; especially as there is a huge desire for 16-to-17-year-olds to have greater control over this country’s politics. Debunking the myth of political disengagement among young people and Votes-at-16 are great steppingstones to achieving this, as they show that young people are willing to take on the mantle of political responsibility from the age of 16. We must not give in to the narratives that young people are politically disengaged, as we run the risk of silencing the many 16-to-17-year-olds that are advocating for their political rights and the creation of a fairer democracy. But what do you think?
Bibliography
Ipsos Mori (2019) How Britain voted in the 2019 election. Available at: How Britain voted in the 2019 election | Ipsos (Accessed: 14/02/2022).
Loughran, T., Mycock, A., Tonge, J. (2021) The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. Public opinion, political partisanship and the votes-at-16 debate in the United Kingdom. pp. 1-27. DOI: 10.1177/13691481211021216.
Lowering The Voting Age (No date) Project Details: Summary. Available at: Project Details – Votes at Sixteen (ukvotingage.co.uk) (Accessed: 20/02/2022).
Manning, N. and Edwards, K. (2014) Educational Review. Does civic education for young people increase political participation? A systematic review. 66(1). pp. 22-45.
Sloam, J. (2007) Parliamentary Affairs. Rebooting Democracy: Youth Participation in Politics in the UK. 60(4). pp. 548-567.
Sloam, J. and Ehsan, M.R. (2017) Youth Quake: Young people and the 2017 General Election. Available at: Microsoft Word – Youth Quake_Final.doc (if.org.uk) (Accessed: 14/02/2022).
Tonge, J., Loughran, T., Mycock, A. (2021) Parliamentary Affairs. Voting Age Reform, Political Partisanship and Multi-Level Governance in the UK; The Party Politics of ‘Votes-at-16.74(?). pp. 522-541.
Ukvotingage.co.uk (2020) The ‘Welsh Way’ to Votes-at-16. Available at: Lowering the Voting Age in UK Project Report: The ‘Welsh Way’ to Votes-at-16 (ukvotingage.co.uk) (Accessed: 21/02/2022).
I agree with you James that 16 and 17 year olds should be given the right to vote and engage in politics. I think it would be good for the younger generations to feel like they have a say in their nations politics. However, do you feel that if 16 and 17 year olds were given the right to vote that they would participate as much as they’d claim to? In the past few years there has been a trend that young people have voted in an election when things are extremely dire and there is a lot on the line. Take Brexit for example, it had a very large voting turnout, and that was because there was a lot to lose by leaving the EU. Do you believe that 16 and 17 year olds would participate in every election, even if things weren’t as significant as deciding to leave the EU? I want to believe that young people would vote if given the chance, but I just haven’t seen that much proof to suggest that young people would actually engage. What are your thoughts?
Hi Andrew,
Many thanks for your question and welcome to my blog!
I would like to believe that if allowed to vote 16 to 17-year-olds would turn out for every election with the same vigor that we saw with Brexit. I think initiatives like votes-at-16, which admittedly are more symbolic than they are reflective of how 16-to-17-year-olds would vote, are positive indicators that young people would turn out if given the opportunity.
However, I do think political participation is something that needs to be learned and encouraged. So, if 16 and 17-year-olds were given the vote, it would have to be properly communicated through the education system. In my view, I think political participation among youngsters would increase if we gave them that responsibility from a younger age. The fact that citizenship education isn’t compulsory for all schools is a big hurdle for this currently, as it doesn’t give young people many chances to explore their political voices outside of things like Brexit that are given extensive coverage through the media.
If I were to write another blog on this topic, I would explore how we would go about getting 16- and 17-year-olds to turn out as it is not something I touched on very much in this blog.
I hope this helps!
Thanks again,
James
Hi James,
Your blog was very interesting and compelling. The studies and data you have shown are very thought-provoking and have indulged me into further reading the cited articles. It has raised awareness on how much of an impact the youth can have in politics. It was interesting to see 16 to 17 year olds wanting to be more active politically but again under 18s are classed as children. And Yes I agree that the country does needs to change its attitude towards young people and their political engagement. I think if the law can support the idea that an individual being 16 and over is legalised to have consented sex as well as have alcohol drinking accompanied with someone over 18, they should also then be sustained the right to vote. Would you agree also?
Do you think the education system was playing a huge part in the enthusiasm of young people and their political engagement? For instance, the classroom environments. Teachers explaining to students how they might be affected from the elections which sparks an interest and motivation to be involved. Do you think as after a certain age young people are no longer in the same classroom environment as they were to when they were 16 to 17 year olds, and those who are 18 and over tend to drift away due to the lack of motivation about politics?
Also as you mentioned the labour policies appeal to the youth, which I agree with but do you think that youth’s tendency to follow each other plays a part. As youth are heavily influenced by each other do you think that played a role particularly when influencers encourage their followers to go out and vote and when influencers make their political stance very clear, do you agree that this has an impact on who they vote for then?
Thanks,
Arifa
Hi Arifa,
Thank you for your questions and welcome to my blog!
I agree with you and you make a very good point about the age of consent and laws around 16-to-17-year-olds and alcohol consumption. Why are young people given more responsibility in certain areas of their lives and not others? What logic decides the parameters for when someone can legally have sex or legally vote? I feel these inconsistencies create a warped idea for young people and their responsibilities as both individuals and political citizens.
To answer your second question, I honestly think the education system could do more to encourage young people. When I was going through school the only students in my year who were politically passionate and engaged were the ones who took politics as an A-Level! I did not take politics so I was never given encouragement or a reason to care about politics especially as I couldn’t vote! There were school council elections and a few discussions about Brexit as it was occurring at the time, but I never felt compelled enough to speak up about it.
I think social media can have that effect. I did a bit of digging as this is not a question I have encountered before and I found this article:
https://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-5-the-digital-campaign/from-voices-to-votes-how-young-people-used-social-media-to-influence-the-general-election/
Apologies for the long link, it discusses how lots of young people, celebrities, and influencers took to social media during the 2017 general election to show their show support for the labor party and encourage people to vote for Corbyn. The overwhelming amount of support for Corbyn was seen to be increased on social media with celebrities like Stormzy encouraging his followers to vote for Corbyn. So yes, I agree as I think you are onto something!
Thanks again,
James
Thank you so much for responding to my questions and sending the article link. It was very interesting to read.
Hi James! Thanks so much for your blog, it made a really interesting read! There were some really great points – I think it is really intriguing to consider the impact of Brexit upon the younger generation and their levels of political engagement. Do you think that the Covid 19 pandemic has / will have any sort of impact on the levels of youth active political participation too? As the UK has so grossly mishandled the pandemic? It will be interesting to see if this is reflected in the next general election. Personally, I think it is a great idea to lower the voting age to 16, as it is the younger generation’s future that relies so much on policies that are made today. I personally believe that it is a great step towards inclusion too – perhaps the younger generation will feel more validated within their political engagement? Thanks again!