Should Our Kids Have The Right to Vote?
Surrounding the UKs voting behaviour in elections has dividing factors regarding age, amongst others like gender. Although, the age of those who are voting in our elections, is the key dividing factor. Generally, the Tories are the most popular party amongst the over-70s. Which differs from youths, who are aligning with left-wing parties. Youthful generations in the electorate are viewed to be consistently more liberal than the general electorate and are continuing to stay more liberal as they are age. Solidified by social media’s growing influence within political discourse, which will be discussed throughout this short blog post.
As newer age-related issues are popping up and gaining attention, like environmental and climate change issues. The UK is currently seeing more Green Party MPs being elected, by the party having a growing 26% support among 18–29-year-olds. As our youth are becoming more progressive and influential within different political issues because they are continuously surrounded by political media, whether they are meaningfully or passively engaging with it is unknown. Changing our current understandings, as youthful voters are now issue-based voting due to what is shown to them on social media. These changes have led to the continuous debate on whether we should lower the voting age across the UK to 16.
Should we lower the voting age to 16? Our youth is no longer sheltered from the outside world. Unlike our older generations. Due to the rising growth in globalisation and the profoundly new influence of social media, from their quick departure from ‘traditional outlets which was consumed only by political parties.’ (Kofi Frimpong et al., 2020, pg606). Targeting their traditional campaigns towards older generations. Political parties are now using social media to ‘organise supporters, fundraising, advertising, and general communication.’ (Kofi Frimpong et al., 2020, pp.600). As ‘social media has a positive relationship with political participation it allows for politicians to introduce more youths to join the political arena.’ (Kofi Frimpong et al., 2020 pp. 603-604). Allowing politicians to engage with the youthful electorate more than ever before. Demonstrated by the high level of political participation on social media, is the highest among youths. (Kofi Frimpong et al., 2020, pp. 603). Even young children have access to political campaigns on social media. ‘With kids under 13 having access to all platforms, warranting graphic and scrutinising media. As when you go onto popular apps like TikTok, you are greeted with live footage of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and elsewhere.’ Social media is unforgiving to those who are accessing their uncensored media. Youth and young children face political discourse daily. Exposing them to peer pressure as anyone, not just politicians can communicate their opinions freely. (Kofi Frimpong et al., 2020, pp. 606). However, does allow our youth to form their own political opinions and share campaigns, using social media as their platform to voice their opinions on political issues. As the average social media user can choose the political network they wish to be an active participant in and support, unfortunately, they can ignore other platforms if they wish. (Gainous and Wagner, 2014, pp. 5). This solidifies why youth voting behaviour now ebbs and flows. Youths are unfortunately mainly driven by issues they meet on social media.
As ‘the UK has had an apparent history of progressively expanding the electorate. For example, in 2012, when a decision was made allowing 16-17-year-olds to vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.’ (Birch, Clarke, and Whiteley, 2014, pp. 293). Advancing the argument on whether 16-year-olds should be allowed to vote. As mentioned, youths are now aware of the ongoing issues in the world due to social media advancements. One issue in another country can have implications on ours and the political choices made will imply on our youth’s future. They should also be given an equal opportunity to vote. The example of the Brexit referendum saw real-world consequences when the voting age was not lowered. Westminster should have mirrored the Scottish independence referendum, as when the balance between remain and leave is broken down by age. Young people – who are forced to live with this decision for their lifetime – wanted to stay. Forcing the consequences of Brexit onto the youth who didn’t get the opportunity to vote.
In conclusion, should the voting age to be lowered to 16? Is a leading factor for wishful changes to our current voting behaviours. As mentioned, age has always been a dividing line in general elections. We should try to be more focused on changing who is voting, to mirror a more inclusive approach to the UK democracy. However, counterarguments appear from older generations deciding youths are not educated enough on government procedures or issues and are being blindly led by social media. Therefore, should our youths not be granted equal voting rights? As not everyone from older generations is formally educated on the government process and less susceptible to social media influence.
Reference list
Birch, S., Clarke, H.D. and Whiteley, P. (2014). Should 16-Year-Olds Be Allowed to Vote in Westminster Elections? Public Opinion and Electoral Franchise Reform. Parliamentary Affairs, [online] 68(2), pp.291–313. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsu019.
Ferguson, E. (2016). The Brexit result has shown why we need votes at 16 – now. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/student/istudents/eu-referendum-result-brexit-student-votes-at-16-remain-leave-europe-a7101736.html.
Gainous, J. and Wagner, K.M. (2014). Tweeting to Power: The Social Media Revolution in American Politics. [online] Google Books. Oxford University Press. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mIQ8DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=social+media+and+the+links+to+politics+&ots=PiUETad3e_&sig=4tvN1ITSb5KGwrRcjf336eMIya4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=social[Accessed 6 Apr. 2024].
Kofi Frimpong, A.N., Li, P., Nyame, G. and Hossin, M.A. (2020). The Impact of Social Media Political Activists on Voting Patterns. Political Behavior. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09632-3.
Moyer, M.W. (2022). Kids as Young as 8 Are Using Social Media More Than Ever, Study Finds. The New York Times. [online] 24 Mar. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/well/family/child-social-media-use.html.
News, A.B.C. (2023). Voters under 30 are trending left of the general electorate. [online] ABC News. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/538/voters-30-trending-left-general-electorate/story?id=104181253.
Omer, N. (2024). Friday briefing: Why the politics of young men and women are drifting further and further apart. The Guardian. [online] 2 Feb. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/first-edition-gen-z-men-women-political [Accessed 3 Mar. 2024].
Smith, M. (2024). How is Britain voting as we enter the 2024 election year? | YouGov. [online] yougov.co.uk. Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/48476-how-is-britain-voting-as-we-enter-the-2024-election-year [Accessed 1 Feb. 2024].
Wall, T. (2024). Greens hope breakthrough in Bristol will bring second MP. The Observer. [online] 3 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/03/greens-sees-chance-of-second-mp-as-labour-voters-waver-in-bristol [Accessed 10 Apr. 2024].
This blog post successfully highlights the fact that the traditional cleavages that influence voting behavior in the UK have shifted dramatically in recent years. The author also successfully highlights the fact that the voting behavior of the younger generation is significantly different from the older generation due to differing, more liberal values. The author also puts forth the very salient question of whether or not younger people should be allowed to vote due to the fact that political decisions being made will affect them for a lifetime- particularly in consideration of the fact that age was a prominent cleavage in the Brexit vote. Data has displayed that where 60% of those aged 65 and over voted Leave, 62% of younger voters voted to remain, leading to some speculation that a higher turnout among the younger demographic may have led to a different result overall.
The authors point about how the voting age in Scotland was lowered can be furthered by the fact that evidence has shown that this has had a positive effect in encouraging voter turnout amongst young people. Data has displayed that the earlier people start to vote, the more likely they are to continue to vote in subsequent elections. Researchers at the University of Sheffield and University of Edinburgh found that young people who began to vote at 16 in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum were not only more likely to vote in that election specifically, but were more likely to continue to vote in subsequent elections. Data also displayed that voters aged 16-17 had a much higher rate of turnout than 18-24 year-old voters in the Scottish referendum. If this trend is to be believed, then lowering the voting age could be particularly beneficial in the UK in addressing the problems of low voter turnout, which has been a salient problem in UK politics in recent years.
I thought this was a very interesting post. It is true that out of all citizens, young people will have to live with the outcome of these votes longer than others. This coupled with young people’s increased exposure to politics on the internet indicates that they are likely to be reasonably informed enough to vote. With the many groundbreaking policy changes and impactful global crises that are sure to affect their futures permanently, it seems only fair that the voting age be lowered. I think the author’s final point was interesting. It is very true that younger generations are more technologically savvy and less susceptible to social media influence. Social media campaigns have already been used on a large scale to affect elections, such as the 2016 Russian misinformation campaign in the United States. The introduction of AI only makes the future risk of political misinformation higher. With this in mind, it might be beneficial to increasingly legitimize younger voters in political spaces so they can help inform the conversations had among older generations surrounding the effects technology can have on politics.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/10/04/1080801/generative-ai-boosting-disinformation-and-propaganda-freedom-house/
The Blog Post provides an informative stance to the suggestion that the voting age should be lowered to 16. The Author uses the Scottish Independence referendum as an example of where lowering the voting age has been a clear success not only in the turnout of that individual election but also, once introduced to voting from a lower age there is a feeling voters fall into the habit of voting which then increases involvement in the years that follow.
However, an additional concern that should come before the possibility of lowering the voting age is the successful implementation of citizenship education or civic education throughout all schools in the UK. One of the main concerns about lowering the voting age is the suggestion that teenagers do not have the necessary knowledge to vote in elections. This is why I appreciate the angle the author has taken in suggesting Kids are no longer as sheltered as they were previously and thus is an understandable case to lower the voting age.
The author provides a very thought-provoking piece on the debate of lowering the voting age to 16. Centred around the argument for inclusivity and democracy the influence of social media has meant that 16–17-year-olds are more politically engaged than ever. For this reason, the author highlights a key argument for allowing them to vote. Peto adds to this debate that by allowing younger people to vote it can reduce political apathy, engaging people in voting at an early age can increase political participation in elections as it is filtered into their structured environment via school for example (2017). The blog successfully includes the example of the Scottish independence referendum where 16-year-olds were allowed to vote and how they voted responsibly supporting the idea of lowering the age limit. However, the author raises a good argument that they are much more susceptible to influence by social media, but the author proposes that the implementation of civic education is a possible way to ensure young people make informed decisions. I also agree with this point and add that it ties in with promoting political participation ensuring that they become active citizens contributing to a good democracy.