Why Young People Don't Participate in Politics
- Michael Youhana
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- 7 months ago
Young people are a key force in transitioning between political systems, but many feel skeptical of the cyclical nature of politics that often ends in corruption.
This Monday’s UN High-level Meeting on Youth was filled with flowery rhetoric from several distinguished commentators.
The speakers at the conference essentially aimed to highlight the importance of bridging the divide between the world’s youth and the often older officials who run political institutions. While many of the statements were repetitive and vague, the general sentiment at the root of the meeting — the importance of inclusion — was healthy. Attendants were mainly officials from governments across the world, members of the press, and members of political organizations and advocacy groups.
After Monday’s second thematic panel discussion on “Challenges to Youth Development,” I caught up with four attendees and asked each of them the following question:
Given the information presented in the panel discussion, what do you think the greatest obstacle to getting young people involved in politics is?
Matt Maiorana, SustainUS Policy Co-Coordinator
“Based on what I heard in the General Assembly, the most difficult obstacle to youth engagement in politics would probably be access to information. This is especially true for youth in developing countries where technology isn’t readily available and finances are extremely limited. It’s really difficult for rural youth and disabled youth and those who are marginalized in their societies to even know that these events are happening or get involved in national politics.”
[Note: SustainUS is an environmentally conscious, U.S.-based advocacy group that promotes sustainable development.]
Jan-Argy Tolentino, President of Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia
“I think the biggest obstacle is the apathy of the youth. In the world we are the majority, right? But, the majority of young people in the world are not really interested in politics. One reason could be they think that the change they want could not be brought on by politics. Through history we can see that political transitions are created by the young people. We can see this in the Philippines, Indonesia, or in the Middle East. But after that, what happens next? They feel that all the efforts that they put forth are useless because politics becomes cyclical. Traditional politicians will eventually return to power. Young people feel tired of this cyclical system.”
Khuzaima Mohammed Osman, Executive Secretary of the Ghanaian Sonsetfund
“The old have a tradition of seeing the youth as not mature enough to make the decisions that will run a country. This is very wrong. Things are changing. One thing that I’ve realized, coming out of this panel discussion, is that young people need participation and engagement in national youth policies and their implementation.”
[Note: The Sonsetfund is an education trust fund aimed at steering young Ghanaians towards leadership and entrepreneurship started by the Chief Imam of Ghana.]
Karina Chupina, President of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing Young People
“On the one hand it’s skepticism; it’s a lack of trust in the political culture and also the lack of belief that young people would be listened to. Skepticism leads to a lack of motivation, and so on. Also in some countries, there is a very strict organizational hierarchy. When young people attempt to enter these organizations, they sometimes do not feel that they can have any influence [in the] decision making process. Another obstacle is a lack of information. Sometimes young people do not have information on how they can participate in decision making. In the case of people with disabilities, like hard of hearing people, there is low self-esteem because of a fear that they will not be accepted in mainstream organization. In many cases, there simply aren’t proper facilities available to young people with disabilities to help them access relevant information.”
Photo Credit: Theone guy
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Michael Youhana
I'm an NYU student studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. I've interned with PolicyMic and Haaretz. I currently write for NYU Lo...
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This is why current and educated voters must lead by example. I believe that civil engagement in school leads into a healthy voting habit like when kids ellect a class presedant or even homecoming queen and king :)
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Close All ThreadsI think too many of us are ready and willing to blame the political system for youth non-participation. This is a cop out. Of course the political system is frustrating and promotes cynicism--they all do to some degree. But the narrative that suggests it is somehow reasonable that young people turn away from participatory democracy because it is less than savory is ridiculous. And, in any event, I'm not sold by this narrative; it suggests young people attain a degree of understanding of what governance is and how it works only to suddenly turn away from this civic project. I don't believe this happens enough to explain youth non-participation. Laziness and lack of conviction, along with a lack of civic education, are the main contributors.
Agreed with Rebecca; thanks for showcasing these different viewpoints! The claims of lack of agency, information, and enthusiasm for effective action remind me of how doubters characterize struggling students. I feel that these obstacles are conveniently intractable excuses, obscuring the fact that so many of our leaders simply have low expectations of our populace.
Thanks for this Michael! Nice hearing what others had to think. Looking at the comments and what the interviewees say, there's consensus that this is a cyclical problem, which may be good or bad to treat. True, it gets complicated, but maybe that means if leaders address just one issue — for example giving youth inroads to voice their issues so they are better addressed — it will have a domino effect, leading to less apathy.
It's not that the youth don't care, there are plenty of youth lead organizations that are working hard to bring change to this country: Powershift, US uncut, the Coffee Party. The problem is our corporate media can't even give these groups the time of day, much less actual air time. Unless you have a strong connection to the established powers that be or bats**t crazy, you're ignored which makes it difficult to let like-minded people know they are not alone that they have other options. While I am sure it is something we will overcome, in the meantime its quite an obstacle.
Of course the vast majority of youth feel disconnected from the issues and it is up to us young passionate youth activists to stand up and be counted.
Remember, we ended apartheid, we ended Jim crow, we ended slavery.
We can end global apartheid and global apathy.
I believe that civil engagement in small organizations through school or the communtity are essential and do influence overall political participation. Tolentino made a good point about apathy efficting our youth
Though there is much skepticism&lack of trust in the government,the youth need 2believe they can make a difference-otherwise,change won't be possible.
I agree with Tolentino- manye young people are not apathetic, they are simply skeptical of politics. They don't know what they can believe.
Seems the major problem is cynicism. Too bad people don't realize how cyclical that sentiment is.
4 Replies
Another problem with voting itself, and the political system at large, is ballot manipulation. Voter fraud is a non-issue, but ballot manipulation through electronic voting machines seems to happen too often. Just look at the whole Prosser election. I think people, youth included, feel like their votes don't matter if this kind of manipulation is allowed to occur.
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Youth not participating in politics?
Not among my friends
I have worked with, and voluntereed for a multitude of political and activist campaigns and so have most of friends.
We are very aware of the issues.
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All politics are local. Quite often, a person's sense of civic efficacy is born through a variety of types of civic participation in their local community. Since voting is inherently irrational (one vote never sways an election), people need another motivation. I believe that most people vote because voting affirms their responsible membership in a community. Like many animals, humans are drawn to the idea of belonging to a "pack". Recent trends in human settlement and migration (increased university attendance and overall transience of 20-somethings) have delayed and/or disrupted our ability to join a "pack" before our early 30s. As for the working class - the weakening of political institutions like unions and churches gets some of the blame. Many other reasons though! Good article.
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