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Uninterested Youth? Young People's Attitudes towards Party Politics in Britain

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  • Matt Henn
  • Mark Weinstein
  • Sarah Forrest

Abstract

Following the outcome of the 2001 and 2005 general elections, when the numbers of abstainers outweighed the numbers of Labour voters on both occasions, much attention has focused upon the state of British democracy and how to enthuse the electorate, especially young people. Whilst the government is exploring ways to make the whole process of voting easier, it may be failing to tackle the real problem – that youth appear to find the business of politics uninviting and irrelevant. This paper examines data derived from a nationwide survey of more than 700 young people in order to shed light on what lies at the heart of young people's apparent disengagement from formal politics in Britain – political apathy or a sense of political alienation. The findings reveal that they support the democratic process, but are sceptical of the way the British political system is organised and led and are turned off by politicians and the political parties. However, there is no uniform youth orientation to politics, and the data indicate that views differ according to social class, educational history and also gender. However both ethnicity and region of the country in which young people live seem to have little influence in structuring political attitudes and behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Matt Henn & Mark Weinstein & Sarah Forrest, 2005. "Uninterested Youth? Young People's Attitudes towards Party Politics in Britain," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 53(3), pages 556-578, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:53:y:2005:i:3:p:556-578
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00544.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Charles Pattie & Patrick Seyd & Paul Whiteley, 2003. "Citizenship and Civic Engagement: Attitudes and Behaviour in Britain," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51, pages 443-468, October.
    2. Charles Pattie & Patrick Seyd & Paul Whiteley, 2003. "Citizenship and Civic Engagement: Attitudes and Behaviour in Britain," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(3), pages 443-468, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Miquel Àngel Essomba & Maria Nadeu & Anna Tarrés, 2023. "Youth Democratic Political Identity and Disaffection: Active Citizenship and Participation to Counteract Populism and Polarization in Barcelona," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Rachel Brooks, 2009. "Young People and Political Participation: An Analysis of European Union Policies," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 14(1), pages 63-74, January.
    3. Ana Pontes & Matt Henn & Mark D. Griffiths, 2018. "Towards a Conceptualization of Young People’s Political Engagement: A Qualitative Focus Group Study," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Darren Sharpe, 2018. "The Making of Democratic Actors: Counting the Costs of Public Cuts in England on Young People’s Steps towards Citizenship," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Carlo Genova, 2018. "Youth Activism in Political Squats between Centri Sociali and Case Occupate," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Saikat Banerjee, 2021. "On the relationship between online brand community and brand preference in political market," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 18(1), pages 27-55, March.
    7. Willems, Jurgen, 2020. "Citizens’ attitudes towards the public sector, public servants, and politicians – Development and validation of practical survey scales," OSF Preprints rnjua, Center for Open Science.
    8. Saikat Banerjee & Bibek Ray Chaudhuri, 2022. "Brand love and party preference of young political consumers (voters)," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(3), pages 475-503, September.
    9. Haiyang Lu & Ivan T. Kandilov & Rong Zhu, 2022. "Does social integration matter for cohort differences in the political participation of internal migrants in China?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1555-1573, August.
    10. Georgios Kyroglou & Matt Henn, 2017. "Political Consumerism as a Neoliberal Response to Youth Political Disengagement," Societies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-16, December.

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