Tag: Beyond the Youth Citizenship Commission
We don’t need to lower the voting age to ensure MPs listen to the views of young people
Last week MPs debated the the case for lowering the UK’s voting age to 16, following Scotland’s decision to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in the independence referendum. Mark Harper MP argued strongly against votes at 16 in the debate, in response to the proposal from Sarah Champion, which was featured on Democratic Audit yesterday. This post is an edited version […]
Votes at 16 will not solve the problem of youth disengagement overnight, but it will help us to address the issue
Last week MPs debated the the case for lowering the UK’s voting age to 16, following Scotland’s decision to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in the independence referendum. Sarah Champion MP initiated the debate, arguing in favour of the reform on the basis that young people demonstrate considerable enthusiasm for participating in politics. This post is an edited […]
Voter registration levels for the Scottish independence referendum are already showing the potential benefits of lowering the voting age to 16
16 and 17 year olds will be allowed to vote in the Scottish independence referendum in September. Kyle Thornton, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, welcomes this move and explores how young people are responding to the opportunity. Responding to recent posts by Craig Berry and Andy Mycock & Jonathan Tonge, Thornton argues that giving 16-17 […]
Ed Miliband should recognise that 16 and 17 year olds can be part of our democracy even if they do not have the vote
Ed Miliband has recently backed a call from Democratic Audit and a range of youth organisations to lower the voting age in the UK to 16. In this post, the latest in our series on youth participation in democracy, Andy Mycock and Jonathan Tonge make the point that votes at 16 will not be a panacea […]
A referendum on lowering the voting age would generate a wider national debate about youth participation in democracy
A number of countries allow their citizens to vote at 16 in national or local elections, including Brazil, Argentina, Austria, Norway and Germany. In the latest post from our series on youth participation in democracy, Craig Berry suggests the UK should also consider lowering the voting age. Holding a referendum on this issue would, he […]
Beyond the Youth Citizenship Commission: Young People and Politics
Gordon Brown established the Youth Citizenship Commission in 2008 to investigate how to increase the involvement of young people in British democracy. Although recommendations were taken forward by the previous government, youth disengagement remains a problem. In the first of a new series on Democratic Audit, Jonathan Tonge and Andy Mycock introduce a set of proposals […]
Democratic Audit's core funding is provided by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by the London School of Economics.