Differences in political participation between young and old people

Young people's political participation is often considered to be low or insufficient. In the literature we find three possible explanations for these findings: young people have fewer resources for political participation because of 'lifecycle effects'; secondly, they prefer different forms of participation than those practised by adults, and these forms are not always surveyed; thirdly, young people have a very limited conception of politics and display lower levels of trust, interest, etc. than do older respondents. However, these results depend greatly on the survey population of the research. Lifecycle effects, for instance, have a greater impact on voting attitudes than on other of political participation, and young people prefer different forms of political participation than do older people. Finally, while young people view political parties negatively, their levels of trust and interest do not differ significantly from those of the adult population. Reprinted by permission of Routledge, Taylor & Francis Ltd.