Diversity and voice: The political participation of young people in the European Union
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
| Author | James Sloam |
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1369148116647176 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2016, Vol. 18(3) 521 –537
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148116647176
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Diversity and voice:
The political participation
of young people in the
European Union
James Sloam
Abstract
There is widespread concern about declining public involvement in established democracies.
Europeans are turning away from mainstream electoral politics towards new forms of political
engagement. This is particularly the case for younger citizens. If young people are ‘reinventing
political activism’ (Norris, 2002), in which forms of participation and in which countries is it
most true? Drawing on data from the European Social Survey, the following article compares
and contrasts young people’s politics in the 15 old member states of the European Union. Youth
engagement generally reflects a country’s civic-political culture. However, there are significant
differences in levels of youth participation, in ratios of youth participation (compared to the
adult population as a whole) and in the relative popularity of different forms of political action.
The United Kingdom stands out, however, with a disturbingly large gap between the political
engagement of young people and older adults.
Keywords
equality, European Union, political participation, voice, voting, young people
Introduction
There is widespread concern about declining public involvement in established democra-
cies (Macedo et al., 2005; Putnam, 2000; Stoker, 2006). Europeans vote less and are
much less likely to be members of political parties than was the case 30 or 40 years ago
(Franklin, 2004; Van Biezen et al., 2012). These trends are clearest for young people (15-
to 24-year-olds in this study) (Fieldhouse et al., 2007; International Institute for Democracy
and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), 1999):
Political disengagement is thought to affect all citizens but young people are believed to be
particularly disillusioned about the major institutions of representative democracy, leaving them
apathetic (at best) or alienated (at worst). (Norris, 2003: 2)
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Corresponding author:
James Sloam, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 9BW, UK.
Email: james.sloam@rhul.ac.uk
647176BPI0010.1177/1369148116647176The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsSloam
research-article2016
Article
522 The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 18(3)
Moreover, the situation has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis and sover-
eign debt crises. Young Europeans have suffered from sharp increases in youth unem-
ployment and have borne the brunt of cuts in public spending.
However, young people are not apathetic. Participation in electoral politics has
declined, but political participation as a whole is relatively healthy (Dalton, 2009; Norris,
2002). Over recent decades, young Europeans have increasingly turned to issue-based
forms of engagement that have more meaning for their everyday lives (Norris, 2003;
Sloam, 2013; Spannring et al., 2008). These forms of participation are often ‘non-electoral’
and ‘non-institutionalised’,1 and are sometimes categorised as ‘protest activities’.2 What
marks out the current generation of young people from their predecessors are their diverse
repertoires of political participation—from the ballot box, to student occupations, to
online campaigns against corporate greed and global poverty—and their preference for
engaging in issues on a case-by-case basis rather than embedding themselves within insti-
tutions (Amnå and Ekman, 2014; Norris, 2002). In this scenario, it is crucial to contextu-
alise young people’s politics (Torney-Purta, 2009), so that we can understand the
differences between youth participation in different countries and between different types
of political action (as well as identify common trends).
Research into young people’s politics is particularly important because it can provide
a window into the future of our democracies (Hooghe, 2004). Young citizens, during their
transition to adulthood, are also more responsive to their socio-economic environment
than older cohorts (Flanagan, 2013; Franklin, 2004), which is particularly relevant in the
aftermath of the recent financial crisis. In 2011, the political activities of young Europeans
filled the political landscape (Sloam, 2014). In response to harsh economic conditions
and public policy that seemed to favour older generations, young people took to the
streets: from demonstrations against increased student tuition fees in the United Kingdom;
to rallies of the ‘outraged young’ against youth unemployment and political corruption in
Spain, Portugal and France; to the Occupy Movement against income inequalities and
corporate greed (Kaldor and Selchow, 2013). There was also a dark side to the resurgence
in youth activism: a surge in support for nationalist parties (illustrated by the results of the
2014 European Parliament election), and the explosion of anger and frustration into vio-
lence among the most deprived groups (as witnessed in the 2011 riots in England)
(Buhaug et al., 2011; The Guardian/LSE, 2011).
A number of important studies have examined changes in youth participation across
Europe and beyond (e.g. Dalton, 2009; Norris, 2002, 2003; Spannring et al., 2008; Torney-
Purta et al., 2001). These studies have mostly focused on common trends. Nevertheless, it
is also important to provide a more fine-grained analysis of changing patterns of participa-
tion. If young people are, in Pippa Norris’ (2002) words, ‘reinventing political activism’,
in which forms of participation and in which countries is this most (or, indeed, least) true?
Drawing on data from the European Social Survey (ESS), the article compares and con-
trasts the political participation of young people across the 15 ‘old’ member states of the
European Union (the EU15).3 Youth engagement generally reflects a country’s national
civic-political culture. The United Kingdom is the clear exception to the rule. Here, 15- to
24-year-olds participate less than the general population in all five forms of political action.
But there are major differences in the political activities of young people across Europe: in
the rate of youth participation, and in the relative popularity of different types of political
activity. This has important implications for public policy. Efforts to strengthen youth
engagement must pay attention to different modes of activity and the gap between youth
participation and overall participation within each national context.
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