It is widely believed and often circulated that the youth of today are uninterested in political events and are too wrapped up in their own self interest to pay any mind to the business of politics. While, this may ring true for certain individuals of "generation Y", or the "millennial" generation, to generalize the whole of the youth demographic is both negligent and false. In fact, research found that political involvement is of great importance to young Canadians; 74% of a poll group reported that "always voting in elections" is vital to being a good citizen; in addition, 63% voted that it is important to "be informed of current events", and 15% said they should be "active in political parties". (The Huffington Post Canada, 2012) According to those statistics, voter turnout for the young demographic should be marginally higher than the numbers reported in the last election, where only 38.8% of voters aged 18-24 cast a vote. (Bolen, 2012) This phenomenon oftentimes contributes to the stereotype of young people being uninvolved in politics, but could perhaps suggest that young people do not feel involved in the current political process and instead channel their energy into different sources. Due to the appalling voter turnout amongst young people, it must be of top concern among political parties to market towards a younger demographic if they wish to engage an untapped source of votes and retain political power despite the disappearing "baby boomer" generation and the growing integration of technology.
Typically, political parties have proven accustomed to catering towards the "baby boomer" generation with promises of pension programs and increased health care. While this method is effective at acquiring votes from older citiz...
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... Canada. Party Politics, 10(4), 427-444.
Harrell, A., Panagos, D., & Matthews, J. (2009). Explaining Aboriginal Turnout in Federal Elections: Evidence from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Elections Canada.
O'Neill, B. (2007, June). Indifferent or Just Different? The Political and Civic Engagement of Young People in Canada. University of Calgary. Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.
Reilly, I. (2011). Amusing Ourselves to Death? Social Media, Political Satire, and the 2011 Election. Canadian Journal of Communication, 36(3), 503-512.
The Huffington Post Canada. (2012, December 20). Generation Y In Canada: National Poll Of Millennials Reveals A Troubled Generation (INFOGRAPHIC). (A. Rempel, Ed., & A. Data, Compiler) Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/11/20/generation-y-canada-millennials-graphic-infographic_n_2136838.html
...adults compared to older adults were less likely to respond that voting was extremely important for good citizenship (133). He concludes that it is too late for the generation of young adults that do not feel voting is an important civic responsibility, however, that it is not too late to convince them that politics matter by showing them that they are giving their opportunity to make important decisions that may impact their lives to others who have different ideas. One may agree with Wattenberg’s idea that habits follow people throughout their lives instead of changing as they cycle in life. His personal accounts are an impactful way to illustrate the importance of building a sense of duty at a young age and carrying that responsibility throughout one’s life.
Many political analysts argue that engagement is an important characteristic of democracy, yet the younger generation is indifferent towards politics. They’re more interested in the latest iPhone technology than in campaigning or voting. In The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation Is Reshaping American Politics, author Russell J. Dalton counters this with the idea that Gen X’ers are still engaged, just in a different way.
Pammett, Jon, and Lawrence LeDuc. 2003. Explaining the Turnout Decline in Canadian Federal Elections: A New Survey of Non-Voters. Ottawa: Elections Canada.
The young as well as the older people of Canada seem to be in a deadlock. The question of if the federal government should or should not lower the voting age is a question debated surely around the dinner tables of families in Canada, as well as in the ranks of the government. Some people even suggest that the age needs to be raised. What would make people want the voting age to be lowered to an even lower age than the young adult age of 18? On the other hand how can the youth of Canada who have their own individual views be able to make a difference without being able to vote? Both sides provide for an intriguing look into the facts and resolutions for an appropriate way to either change the voting age or keep it the same. Throughout this paper I will look at and analyze the arguments of the youth who claim to be 'disenfranchised', as well as others who see the lowering of the voting age to be detrimental rather than an improvement to the Government of Canada's political process. In 1854, before Canada became a responsible government the only people allowed to vote were people who had a high value of land which they owned, and had a high income. Women and people with other ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs were also denied the right to vote. This did not mean that these people did not have their views and beliefs on who and what they wanted in their government but rather they were denied the right. These laws have changed since then drastically and Canada has become a democratic country (rule by the people). However, the frustration of not being able to vote and support their ideals and politicians does live on in the hearts and minds of thousands of young Canadians under the age of eighteen. The...
It’s very unsettling to know that there was a six percent decrease in young voters (ages 18-29) in the 2012 election compared to 2008 (Circle Youth data). In 2007 the National Conference of State Legislatures publicly released a report and data set on voter turnout in democratic countries. This is a quote from that report titled Getting out the Vote, “It should be noted that in 1972, 18-year-olds were added to the eligible voting population, thus decreasing the percentages. Nonetheless, voter tu...
"Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums." Elections Canada On-line. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. .
It is our civic right and duty to actively participate in governmental affairs. This recent election really highlighted the divide in opinion regarding the importance of governmental participation. “To many, our democratic system seems so broken that they have simply lost faith that their participation could really matter,” West writes in his essay entitled The Deep Democratic Tradition in America. Young people feel unimportant and irrelevant, which explains the lack in turnout from young voters ages 18-29. However, it wasn’t just young voters that didn’t turnout. Millions of eligible voters didn’t show up for the 2016 elections. A democracy without active participants is a democracy bound for
The first support Kamenetz argues is, the 2008 presidential campaign brought in the most voters under the age of 29 in history. If the voting age would be decreased, there would be more voters under the young adult category. There would be an increase of voters, including those under the age of eighteen.
Pammett, J., & LeDuc, L. (2003). Explaining turnout decline in Canadian federal elections: A survey of non-voters. Elections Canada, 40.
Since the 1890s, Canada’s voter turn-out has declined steadily, however, the decline in voter turn-out in the last several elections is one of great concern to Canada’s democracy. As a result, mandatory voting has gained the attention of many political scientists and political analysts. While there are good reasons to worry about Canadians’ diminishing voter turn-out, it is also fair to say that mandatory voting will not prove beneficial to the future of Canada’s democracy. Although mandatory voting will increase the voter turn-out, it will not create an informed voter base and neither raise a more politically knowledgeable society. Making voting compulsory is accompanied by both positive and negative outcomes, but in Canada, many fear that the negative outcomes outweigh the positives.
Today's society, as a whole, tends to view young people as indifferent and blasé about the world around them. However, students feel that they are tuned out by politics. According to the responses to the survey I gave, college students feel that the issues addresses do not pertain to them, and are not relevant to their lives. Issues such as Medicare, and what to do about social security are not a concern of young people and their lives right now.
In Australia the young adults “are less likely to be enrolled to vote than older groups. An estimated 300,000 Australians aged 18 to 25 do not vote in elections because they have not enrolled” (31,2006). While in the United States, “19% of all votes cast in 2012 came from young voters” (2016). While voting does not effect young children since they cannot vote, however when teens vote it allows them to become more educated in their country and their political system. Since most of the teens in Australia do not vote, they do not have copious amount of knowledge from their countries political system. Having this knowledge will allow students to use this knowledge in their school life helping them understand history and government
Prevailing arguments that lean in the vicinity of adverse effects of mandatory voting laws have always been primarily fixated on two things. Firstly, the controversy between Canadian rights and duties. Secondly, the proclamation that it 's undemocratic to force individuals to vote. However, a phenomenon that is frequently repressed, is the notion that sustaining a democracy in any country builds upon the commonality between informed citizens to hold the government accountable. As voter turnout plummets, so does the rights of Canadian citizens, in a democracy that is slowly being scrutinized as a crumbling social order of equality and justice. Let alone, in a political culture amidst a perspective centralized around peacekeeping and freedom,
Green, Donald. "Youth Voting” THE CENTER FOR INFORMATION & RESEARCH ON CIVIC LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT. Tufts University, 2012. Web. 02 Oct 2013. .
The Millennial generation is the newest generation that is becoming adults. Born between 1980 and 2000, this generation is approximately 80 million strong. They are a tech-savvy group, with short attention spans and open minds to race, sexuality, and religion. When it comes to politics, however, there are many speculations about the scale in which they will be involved, if at all. Although many people believe that the millennial generation is too lazy and self-centered to cast their votes, this claim is not valid because they already have had a major impact on past elections.