Involving young people in democracy
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 […]
The Leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, on fixing our broken politics
Democratic Audit’s Sean Kippin recently interviewed the leader of the Green Party Natalie Bennett in advance of a talk she was giving in the Palace of Westminster about the future for political reform. In part one of a two part interview, they discussed what needs to be done to modernise our political and constitutional arrangements, and […]
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 […]
The democratic potential of youth assemblies and political forums in the UK: a case study of the Scottish Youth Parliament
Young people are represented in a number of youth parliaments and assemblies in the UK, with these bodies also providing a valuable source of political experience. Stratos Patrikios and Mark Shephard have studied the Scottish Youth Parliament in detail to assess how representative the institution is. They found that it does broadly reflect the Scottish population, although […]
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 […]
20 things we learned about democracy in April 2014
April 2014 is thought to be the most democratic month in human history, owing largely to the Indian general election taking place this month. In the UK, however, democracy wasn’t shown in its best light, with Culture Secretary Maria Miller resigning over her expenses, while Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage held a rather ill-tempered debate […]
To increase young people’s participation in local elections, young people’s issues need to be on the agenda
Democratic Audit has suggested young people can be encouraged to participate in elections if voting procedures are changed and much better sources of information are available online. In this post Councillor Rowan Draper explores other ways to involve young people in the upcoming local elections, arguing that citizenship education should be enhanced and that politicians, […]
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 […]
The class, race and age of activists in Brazilian social movements is becoming more diverse
Social movements have become increasingly important form of participation in democracy, beyond the traditional means of joining political parties and fighting elections. This is evident in Brazil, where large street protests on a number of issues have featured people from a range of backgrounds. In this audio interview, Cheryl Brumley spoke to Marilia Pontes Esposito and Raquel Sousa […]
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 […]
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