Some might say it's laziness, whilst others might say young people don't care about the running of the country. Perhaps politics is just too boring to take an interest in. There are some adults who might say that today's youth culture is a disaster and that partying is all they think about.
On the other hand, perhaps young people are not being educated on the subject of politics at school so they have little knowledge and don't see it as important. Is politics too difficult to get into as a young adult? Many young people will tell you they don't understand politics and so they give up trying.
There are many factors that need to be considered here, and I aim to explore each reason thoroughly. What are your views? Who or what is to blame for the devastating number of young voters today?
Posts
perhaps young people are waiting to get the experience and knowledge that they need to be able to vote in the right way... because older people have seen what has happened in their time, they know about what could go wrong or what has gone right??
As a rule I would not suggest that young are not interested in Politics. Young people tend to be interested in the politics of issues rather than the banal and largely irrelevant point scoring of party politics.
Look at the response generated by protests over the war in Iraq - a very politcal issue, young people cared enough to protest and make their voice heard.
There are many reasons that young people do not vote; the tabloid press is a prime culprit, the press has a habit of systemmatically humiliating any and all public figures, including politicians, once the meduia has had its way with a political party who is likely to vote for it? The best example of this would have to be the 1992 general election when the Sun newspaper destroyed the Labour Party campaign and more or less scuppered Neil Kinnock's chances of ever becoming Prime Minister.
Secondly, the vast majority of people in the UK are not young. Broadly speaking the wants and wishes of the young do not tally with that of the older generations. If a political party were to pander to the young and develop a policy manifesto that appealed specifically to a younger generation they would be likely to forfeit their support base amongst the older voters.
The current young generation is one of the most liberated we have ever seen, young people tend to have different views to the older generations on issues ranging from equal opportunites based on sexual preference to top-up fees. The majoritarian nature of the political system in the UK requires a party to select the group that has the most voters to appeal to. That tends to be affluent, white, middle class, retired voters in the UK. Broadly speaking parties do not give young people a reason to vote for them.
You could be right Anonymous - perhaps it's a lack of confidence in personal experience. If so, it would be interesting to investigate what has changed in recent years to knock this confidence.
Andy - some valid points well made. Young people do tend to voice their concerns via activism rather than through the vote. Perhaps this is because they are confused by the media acting as a battleground for political figures. Other people have also suggested that politicians don't care about gaining the young person's vote. Do you think that if a political party decided to go for the youngsters they would be successful in winning the majority UK vote?
I don't remember getting anything to do with politics in school in the old days. One of the usual reasons given for older (30+) people being more likely to vote is that they have a life style that is effected by political decisions e.g.they are home owners, pay tax, have kids in school etc.
Trevor
Politics was not discussed at school when I was younger either but it was part of family discussal. All my formative years were spent listening to my parents differing political views. I believe young peoiple do need to have unbiased political education to enable them to make choices that do effect their lives. Each manifesto does involve some issues that directly effect the 18- 24 year olds who are probably voting for the first time this year. So adding this to the curriculum maybe but a good idea only for sixth formers as students have enough to contend with upto age 16 without worrying about politics. Young people are adults quick enough.