Youth Disengagement from Voting: A Reflection on Reasons for Low Voter Turnout In many democratic countries, there is a growing concern over the low voter turnout among young people, particularly thos
📋 Exam Question
Read the excerpts from the article 'Why Are Youth Dissatisfied with Democracy?' by Gerardo Berthin below.
Write a text in which you reflect on some of the reasons why not all young people vote in elections in an English-speaking country of your choice. Use examples from the material below in your answer. You may add other material you find relevant.
- Why Are Youth Dissatisfied with Democracy?
According to Freedom House and other analysis and metrics, democratic backsliding* has become a global trend. Amid this environment comes a rash of statistics suggesting that the world’s young people are increasingly disengaged from political life: they’re voting less, rejecting party membership, and telling researchers that their country’s leaders aren’t working in their interests.
But at the same time, young people remain engaged in civic life. They attend demonstrations, use the internet to make their voices heard, and are active outside the traditional political sphere, like in business, at school, and in religious communities.
According to the World Values Survey (WVS), the world’s average youth (defined as between ages 18 and 29) participation in national elections is 47.7 percent. The figures vary by country and region, with Latin American youth voting at relatively high rates—often reaching above 65 percent turnout—while youth in Europe and Africa voting tend to post turnout rates of between 40 and 50 percent. Voter turnout in the United States among 18-to-24-year-olds for the 2020 presidential election was 48 percent, the lowest compared to all other age groups. Low youth electoral participation reflects apathy, mistrust, and dissatisfaction with democratic processes, and feeds into the democratic backsliding narrative.
Researchers also found signs of “transition fatigue” among youth. [This means that] they are less engaged with democracy compared to generations before them that challenged authoritarian systems, and won greater political and civil freedoms as a result.
*'Democratic backsliding' is recognised internationally as the process by which states become gradually less democratic over time.
Excerpt, adapted for this exam by Udir.
References:
Text A: Berthin, G. (2023, 14 September). Why Are Youth Dissatisfied with Democracy? Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/article/why-are-youth-dissatisfied-democracy
Definition of 'democratic backsliding': James, L., Renwick, A., & Russell M. (2022). What is democratic backsliding, and is the UK at risk? The Constitution Unit. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/sites/constitution_unit/files/backsliding_-_final_1.pdf
✏️ Model Answer
Youth Disengagement from Voting: A Reflection on Reasons for Low Voter Turnout …