Young People and Politics in the UK: Apathy or Alienation?

255 Pages·2007·0.69 MB·English

by  David Marsh

Young People and Politics
in the UK
Apathy or Alienation?
David Marsh, Therese O'Toole and
Su Jones
Young People and Politics in the UK
AlsobyDavidMarsh
THECONFEDERATIONOFBRITISHINDUSTRY(co-authorwithW.Grant)
ABORTIONPOLITICS(co-authorwithJ.Chambers)
THENEWBRITISHPOLITICALSYSTEM(co-authorwithI.Budgeetal.)(Newedition
asTHECHANGINGBRITISHPOLITICALSYSTEMS:Intothe1990s)
PRIVATEMEMBERSBILLS(co-authorwithM.Read)
THENEWPOLITICSOFBRITISHTRADEUNIONISM
POST-WAR BRITISH POLITICS IN PERSPECTIVE (co-author with members of the
BirminghamPoliticalSociologyGroup)
CHANGING PATTERNS OF GOVERNANCE IN THE UK: Reinventing Whitehall
(co-authorwithD.RichardsandM.Smith)
PRESSUREPOLITICS:InterestGroupsinBritain(editor)
CAPITALINEUROPE(editor)
POLICYNETWORKSINBRITISHPOLITICS(co-editorwithR.A.W.Rhodes)
IMPLEMENTINGTHATCHERISM(co-editorwithR.A.W.Rhodes)
THEORYANDMETHODSINPOLITICALSCIENCE(co-editorwithG.Stoker)
COMPARINGPOLICYNETWORKS(editor)
MARXISMANDSOCIALSCIENCE(co-editorwithA.GambleandT.Tant)
DEMYSTIFYINGGLOBALISATION(co-editorwithColinHay)
THEORY AND METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE (co-editor with G. Stoker) (All
newsecondedition)
THESTATE:TheoriesandIssues(co-editorwithColinHayandMichaelLister)
Young People and Politics
in the UK
Apathy or Alienation?
David Marsh
ProfessorofPoliticalSociology
UniversityofBirmingham,UK
Therese O’Toole
LecturerinEthnicity
UniversityofBirmingham,UK
and
Su Jones
ResearchAssociate
UniversityofBirmingham,UK
©DavidMarsh,ThereseO’TooleandSuJones2007
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YoungpeopleandpoliticsintheUK:apathyoralienation?/DavidMarsh,
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p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Contents:Thestudyofpoliticalparticipation“Thecontextand
consequenceofpoliticalparticipation:citizenshipandgovernance
intheUK“Methodology“Thepoliticsofyouth“Classasalived
experience“Genderandparticipation“Youngpeopleandthe
politicsof−raceł,ethnicityandidentity.
ISBN-13:978(cid:3)0(cid:3)230(cid:3)00131(cid:3)2
ISBN-10:0(cid:3)230(cid:3)00131(cid:3)9
1. Youth“GreatBritain“Politicalactivity. 2. Political
participation“GreatBritain. I. O’Toole,Therese,1970(cid:3)
II. Jones,Su. III. Title.
HQ799.G7M3552007
324.0835(cid:2)0941“dc22 2006049320
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby
AntonyRoweLtd,ChippenhamandEastbourne
For Suzy, Holly, Michael and Rosie
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
1 TheStudyofPoliticalParticipation 9
2 TheContextandConsequenceofPoliticalParticipation:
CitizenshipandGovernanceintheUK 31
3 Methodology 59
4 ThePoliticsofYouth 91
5 ClassasaLivedExperience 124
6 GenderandParticipation 153
7 YoungPeopleandthePoliticsof‘Race’,Ethnicityand
Identity 178
Conclusion 210
Notes 222
Bibliography 228
Index 240
vii
Acknowledgements
WewishtothanktheESRCforitssupportforthisresearch(ESRCrefer-
ence: L215252015, Explaining Non-participation: Towards a Fuller Under-
standing of the Political). Thanks also to all our contacts at the schools,
college,hostelandtrainingcentreinBirminghamwherewecarriedout
ourfieldworkforgivingustheirtime,expertiseandsupport.Mostofall,
wewishtothankalltheyoungpeoplewhoparticipatedinthisresearch,
fromwhomwehavelearntsomuch.
viii
Introduction
Theissueofpoliticalparticipationhasreceivedagreatdealofattention
in recent years, both in the UK and beyond. Much of the academic
literature, and indeed public debate, identifies three crucial concerns
with which this book engages: first, there is considerable evidence of
a decline in key forms of political participation in the UK and more
generally. Secondly, there is particular concern about the decline in
political participation among the young. Finally, both these concerns
are potentially crucial issues for the future of liberal democracies and
governmentshavebeguntoengagewithwhatmanyseeasanemerging
democraticdeficit.
A decline in political participation
IntheUK,thereasonforconcernaboutpoliticalparticipationisstrongly
linkedwithdecliningturnoutsforlocal,nationalandEuropeanelections
and falling party membership. For example, the turnout in the 2005
GeneralElectionwas61percent,only2percenthigherthanthe2001
General Election turnout of 59 per cent, which was the lowest in the
post-warperiod(whenturnoutwas12percentagepointsdownfromthe
1997Electionand25percentagepointslowerthanthepost-warhighof
84percentin1950).Inrelationtoyoungpeople,thepicturewaseven
moredisturbing;MORI’s(2005a)figuressuggestthattheturnoutratefor
18–24-year-olds dropped from only 39 per cent in 2001 to 37 per cent
in 2005. Similarly, membership of political parties has declined signi-
ficantly (see Mair and van Biezen, 2001). Party membership is ageing
(see Seyd and Whiteley, 1992; Richardson, Seyd and Whiteley, 1995)
and youth political parties barely exist in numerical, if not in organ-
isational, terms (for the best recent work on youth parties, see Lamb,
1