Lack of interest, or Lack of Knowledge?

Political engagement among young people has decreased significantly within the last fifty years, Janine Dermody and Stuart Hanmer-Lloyd ‘indicates that young people are the most disengaged of all the electoral segments in Britain, with them increasingly not voting as they become eligible, and continuing not to vote throughout their lives’ (cited in Dermody, Hanmer‐Lloyd and Scullion, 2010) which has become a growing concern for the UK political system which relies heavily on the participation of UK citizens. Overall engagement in politics has varied over the years, for example, the outcome of the 2017 general election saw the fourth consecutive increase in turnout since 1997 (Parliament.uk, 2017). Despite this overall growth in political engagement, there is still a lack of interest from people aged between 18-24 when compared with people ages 50 and over (see graph below). This graph highlights the vast difference in voter turnouts with only 55% of all 18-24-year-olds participating in the 2019 general election while 85% of people aged 75 and over (The British Election Study Team, 2021)

British Election Study Team, 2021

Why are young people disengaged with politics?

The reasons behind the lack of engagement from young people towards politics can be the result of various different factors. For example, lack of interest, lack of knowledge, and distrust in government are a few factors that play into the low percentage of young voters. Political scientist Paul Webb argues that politically disengaged people can be put into two different groups. The first group Webb refers to as ‘dissatisfied democrats’ which he describes as ‘educated, higher social status, politically interested citizens who believe in democracy, but who are dissatisfied with current politics and want more opportunities to participate’ (Paul Webb, cited in, Elise Uberoi and Neil Johnston, 2021). The second group has been defined as ‘stealth democrats’ who Webb describes as ‘less educated, lower social status, less politically interested citizens who do not want to be involved in politics unless strictly necessary’ (Paul Webb, cited in, Elise Uberoi and Neil Johnston, 2021).

Although Paul Webb’s theory on disengagement in politics, successfully explains why lack of interest and distrust in the government plays a part in young people’s disengagement with politics. I dispute his idea that people from a lower social status do not want to be involved in politics. As from my personal experience of growing up in a working-class family, politics was something that was very rarely discussed, therefore, I had little knowledge about politics and as a result, I saw little need to participate in general elections once I turned eighteen because I wasn’t aware of its importance. In fact, it wasn’t until relatively recently I understood the importance of political participation as a result of being a student and what I have learned throughout my sociology degree. However, I don’t believe that my lack of interest in politics in the past was because I didn’t want to be involved, it was simply because I had little knowledge of its importance and impact politics had on my life. I feel like this is common for many young people who come from working-class backgrounds where there is usually little discussion within their schools and homes about politics and the importance of being politically engaged. The graph below further highlights young people’s willingness to engage with politics.

If young people are so willing, why are participation rates so low?

As the graph above shows, the younger generation is keen to be more involved in politics which has been evident in the BLM movement and Brexit which saw young people actively petition, protest, and engage with politics. Brexit was the first time in many years that we saw an increase in young people’s turn out, with ‘64% among 18-24 year olds and 65% among 25-39 year old’ (Bruter & Harrison, n.d.). The referendum also reinforced how important it was for young people to vote as ‘71% of  18-24 year olds’ voted to remain in the EU while 60% of people ages 65 and over voted to leave (Statista, 2016). The difference in how people voted by age shows how crucial participation from young people is in order to have their political wants put into action and prevent the ‘grey vote’ from controlling UK’s political sphere (IPR blog, 2019).

Similar to Brexit, the BLM movement received a large amount of media attention, both on broadcast and social media. This may suggest why there was a high percentage of participation from young people as social media is an important part of young people’s lives in the UK. The BLM movement saw many young people take to social media to share in anger over the death of George Floyd in the United States. Young people in the UK used social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram to organize protests to get the government to take action and recognize the racism that is still so prevalent in UK society. Despite the movement starting in the United States, social media resulted in young people in the UK engaging politically by protesting and demanding action from the government. Although the BLM protests in the UK were criticized, protests are an important form of political engagement as ‘positive engagement does not mean approval: it can take the form of protest and activism aimed at reform’ (Parliament.uk, 2017) and is a key way to create change.

So, Is Social Media the Answer?

The evidence that young people engage politically when issues are broadcasted throughout social media is overwhelming. So does this mean social media is the answer to getting young people more politically engaged?

I believe that social media will be the most helpful and effective way to successfully engage young people politically so that our political system will begin to reflect the needs of the younger generation. Due to its accessibility and overall reach to young people, I feel that it will be one of the only ways for political parties to get young people to engage with their ideologies and to help them understand the importance of engagement and the effects that politics has on their lives.

Get involved and tell me what you think!

Bibliography

British Election Study Team (2021). Age and voting behaviour at the 2019 General Election.

Parliament.uk. (2017). Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7501/CBP-7501.pdf.

Dermody, J., Hanmer‐Lloyd, S. and Scullion, R. (2010). Young people and voting behaviour: alienated youth and (or) an interested and critical citizenry? European Journal of Marketing, pp.421–435.

Bruter, M. and Harrison, S. (n.d.) Did young people bother to vote in the EU referendum? – Opinium. [online] Available at: https://www.opinium.co.uk/did-young-people-bother-to-vote-in-the-eu-referendum/‌

Statista. (2016). Brexit votes by age 2016 | Statista. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/520954/brexit-votes-by-age/.‌

IPR blog. (2019). The rise of the grey vote. [online] Available at: https://blogs.bath.ac.uk/iprblog/2019/05/21/the-rise-of-the-grey-vote/.

‌Sky News (2020). Black Lives Matter: Why do the George Floyd protests resonate so strongly in the UK? YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k2zogxvXYU.

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