Login With Google
Young people choose protest over traditional politics, finds survey
Why it is in news?
- Adults younger than 40 are between nine and 17% more likely to prefer informal political activity than those older than 40 — a marked increase from the early 2000s, when under-40s were only three per cent more likely to protest.
Informal politics
- Youth have always voted in lower numbers. But while surveys show that democracy remains the most desired form of government, fewer young people are joining as volunteers, party members, or campaigners.
- This participation gap is widening. As more youth choose informal politics, more older adults avoid protest.
- There are different reasons for this ambivalence. Many young activists prefer horizontal, digitally-networked movements to top-down legacy organisations. Some countries lack a motivating ideological battle.
- Another factor is the exclusion of new voices within established structures. (Just two per cent of the world’s parliamentarians are younger than 30.)
- Youth may reject mainstream politics as morally compromised.
Corruption, another factor
- Corruption also depresses the youth vote.
- Orb Media’s analysis found that, worldwide, under-40s who think their government is corrupt were between seven and 15% less likely to vote than peers who don’t perceive corruption.
- Over-40s who saw corruption were only four to seven percent less likely to vote.
- In Zimbabwe, youth who perceived corruption were 21% less likely to vote than those who didn’t, according to 2016 data.
Source
The Hindu