Asia to between 20 and 25 per cent in Africa, Europe,
Gender plays a significant role in defining party activ-
Northern America and South America. This matters
ism throughout much of the world. In Africa, Europe,
because of what Anne Philips has described as the
South America and South-Eastern Asia, young
“politics of presence”,
which posits that if women
men are about twice as likely as young women to
and youth are not well represented in national par-
become active in a political party. In India and the
liaments, they will not see politicians as “people like
United States, however, these gender disparities are
them” and will therefore not aspire to those positions.
not seen. Educational status has a particularly strong
118
correlation with party activism in the United States, There are some interesting variations in political
South America and Europe. In these areas, young
party involvement across the different countries and
graduates are more than twice as likely as all young
regions. Party membership is highest in India, where
adults to be active party members.
18.1 per cent of youth claim to be actively involved. Again, India is the only country among the 33 sur-
figure 3.2). In Africa and the United States youth
ISSUE-BASED ENGAGEMENT: “REINVENTING POLITICAL ACTIVISM”
party membership is relatively high (7 and 8 per cent
Over the past few decades, the world has witnessed
veyed in which 18- to 29-year olds are more likely to participate than older citizens (see table 3.1 and
respectively), but the gap between 18- to 29-year olds and older adults is much higher in the United States than in any other region (see figure 3.2).
a shift in focus from politics to policy—from engagement in institutionalized electoral processes to greater involvement in cause-oriented activism.119 As a consequence, young people’s repertoires of participation have expanded to include many alternative forms of political engagement such as e-petitions, fair trade “buycotts”, poetry slams and flash mobs. Young people engage in politics on a case-by-
118 Anne Phillips, The Politics of Presence (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995). 119 Pippa Norris, Democratic Phoenix: Reinventing Political Activism (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2002). 120 Eric Amnå and Joakim Ekman, “Standby citizens: diverse faces of political passivity”, European Political Science Review, vol. 6, No. 2 (May 2014), pp. 261-281. 121 W. Lance Bennett and Alexandra Segerberg, The Logic of Connective Action: Digital Media and the Personalization of Contentious Politics, Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2013).
case basis, embracing personally meaningful causes or issues120 that are often manifested through peer networks supported by new communication technologies.121,122 Young people are clearly interested in politics but are often disillusioned with, alienated from, or even intimidated by electoral politics.
National economic issues are the predominant 122 The Portuguese Indignados, for example, were inspired by song, came into being through a Facebook event page, and manifested themselves in mass protests in town squares across Portugal; see James Sloam, “’The outraged young’: young Europeans, civic engagement and the new media in a time of crisis”, Information, Communication & Society, Special Issue: The Networked Young Citizen, vol. 17, No. 2 (2014), pp. 217-231.
concern for older generations and therefore define their political engagement. In recent times, citizens’ values and interests have become more diverse, and the geographical boundaries that once
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