Introduction
This essay will focus on the main points of an article written by Rachel Brooks. The article centers on a wide description of young people and their political participation. More specifically, it involves around the fact that young people tend to show interest and to participate less in the political action than other age groups. Moreover, it focuses on young women’s willingness to express their selves politically, and the extent of their political engagement. It also emphasizes to the absence of gender, when it comes to political participation amongst the young age groups
Most of the survey results concerning young members of the European Union show that both young men and women tend to be politically apathetic. However, it is argued that the lack of social activities and voluntary work is two of the main reasons of young people’s inactive social cohesion and citizenship.
Young people and political engagement
Political engagement, as it is illustrated by the contemporary media, concerns the qualification of a moral label of a ‘good citizen’, the domain of voluntary work, watching the everyday news, taking part in activism, and voting. Nowadays, most of the books, articles, and press documents, present young people as political apathetic. This particular age group is failing in terms of civic and political participation e.g. voting in the elections, and it is considered as passive and disengaged. (Banaji, 2008, p.1&2)
According to Banaji (2008), nowadays political engagement and civic participation don’t appeal to young’s peoples general beliefs and activities, as they are viewed more as mandatory and less as maturity, citizen’s political agency, or sense of power and responsibility .
However, t...
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...no action and that ‘civic’ engagement is better than no engagement.’ This means that nowadays political participation could be expressed with the use of different forms and sources and if using an alternative way to express it, it doesn’t mean that it still it no longer exists. There is no formal evidence which proves that the younger age groups are less engaged to politics than the older ones. Nevertheless, there are lots of different methods that youth workers can use in order to actuate young people to political action, social cohesion and engagement through informal education. These methods contain voluntary work, group discussions and peer education.
Finally, the notable absence of gender in terms of youth participation in politics constitutes another very important consideration that has to be highlighted in the future researches and surveys.
The young people are now able to embrace the constitution and civic education courtesy of the 26th amendment. Most of the 18-year olds become more responsible and start acting as adults who put matters of national concern into great consideration. The young people are able to exchange nationalistic ideas and come up with solutions to some of the matters affecting the nation. The flexibility of the constitution has inspired patriotism especially from the younger generations who identify with it because it is tailored to cater for their ever-changing needs and challenges. Many of the young people are able to participate in measures taken by the government in times of calamity such as hurricanes through volunteering as rescuers or giving contributions to the people affected by such
...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.
4Lopez, Hugo and Benjamin Brown. 2006. Civic Engagement among 2-year and 4-year College Students. Somerville, MA: The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
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
Out of all Canadian age groups, the voter turnout for young voters is the most disappointing. In specific today’s youth are less likely to vote, less interested in politics, and know less about politics compared to all other Canadians. This brings about a great deal of concern, as young people are the future of this country, and are expected to uphold the expectations put on them by their older counterparts. Youth are still being affected by the consequences brought about by politics; they still go to school, get jobs, get sick, and so forth, so why is it that they feel indifferent?
It is important for the region to increase the political participation and access of women. Increasing political participation in democratic countries will increase and strengthen the legitimacy of the government. (Desposato et al., pg. 160) There are many factors that contribute to the unequal participation in politics seen throughout the region. Studies have shown that more educated people are more likely to participate in politics. With this in mind, increasing access to education for girls in the region should lead to an increase in political participation. However, in the last decade, much has been done to increase girl’s access to education. (Desposato...
In order to explain how and why the lack of minor female political leaders affects the American Society, it’s best to explain how the gender inequality, in general, affects the American people. Gender inequality in ...
To achieve civic engagement is undertaken in many diverse ways. These are determined by several factors, amongst them the purpose of the civic engagement, the people involved in it, the funds to be involved amongst others. The...
As young people’s civic and political participation continues to decline, a number of organizations are working to reverse the decline by increasing opportunities for youth to participate. Communities around the country are taking steps to engage young people through a variety of methods that allow youth to actually participate in policy development and take action on local issues. The effectiveness of such community programs on long-term civic engagement is not well documented, however. This paper presents preliminary research about the effectiveness of one community participation program, the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Youth Advisory Council. Quantitative and anecdotal evidence, while not conclusive, suggest this community problem solving approach may encourage its participants to engage in other civic and political activities. The paper also discusses the benefits that organizations and communities receive when young people participate in this way, and provides recommendations for developing a similar youth participation program.
vigorously involving young people in politics. Based on the data collected he concludes that Parties do not give prominence to their opinions, suggestions as well as their difficulties problems. Which he claims to be the one reason that compels youth not to participate in politics actively.
Furthermore, the manner in which political ideologies and perspectives have altered factors such as education, employment, housing and benefits will be examined. Once a full explanation has been provided the fundamental question that needs to be answered is: are the teenagers of today embattled or empowered? “Definitions of ‘youth’ in Western societies usually refer to the life stage between childhood and adulthood, the transitional period between being dependant and becoming independent” (Kehily, 2007). The age of this transition can be best defined by the House of Commons as starting at 16 and ending at 24 years old (2013). This transition from youth to adulthood has altered considerably in recent years; the traditional norms and values that youth once followed are no longer respected or easily attained.
a person who comities a crime and is given special rights. These right are less
Citizenship education has become a keystone of democratic governments such as those found in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. Other forms of state government (autocracies, oligarchies, monarchies, theocracies, et al.) impose limitations on the rights of its citizens, so therefore the majority of their population will never need to learn what it takes to actually participate in government, and they just learn to follow the mandated laws or else face the consequences. The ability to actively function in a democratic society is not instinctual; it is in fact a learned skill. In her research, L. Alison Molina-Giron (2016) describes how the study of citizenship has become fundamental to democracies because “citizenship education must prepare youngsters to [actively participate]… in their nation’s civic and political life. Indeed, democracy not only
As a whole, only about half of the population eligible to vote does so. In the election of our forty-third president, fifty one percent of those eligible voted. The young adult age group, 18-29, makes up the smallest part of that group. Seventeen percent of eligible voters between this age group voted (Lewis). In the latest presidential election, 30 million 18-30 year olds did not vote (Anthony, Skaags). Only a small percentage of voters came out of this age group-the smallest; however, it is not uncommon to see members of the group participating in protests or other complaint oriented activities with the intent of making change. Change is able to come easier than most people think.