Social networking: a way to re­engage young people with politics? Marian Sainsbury and Tom Benton National Foundation for Educational Research Establishing a habit of political engagement amongst young people was one of the aims of the introduction of compulsory citizenship education in England’s schools in 2002 for all 11 to 16 year olds. Political involvement is an important element in a democracy: as the Hansard Society says, ‘civic society is most effective when its citizens are connected with the institutions and individuals who represent them in the democratic process’ 1 . Nine years on, a unique survey of over 1500 20‐year‐olds in England who were the first cohort to experience compulsory citizenship education, conducted in the spring of 2011 reveals the political attitudes and actions of today’s young citizens. Political engagement through traditional routes is generally low, but there is a higher level of participation through social networking, which could hold out the possibility of building more engagement in the future. Overall, the young people in this survey reported a lukewarm sense of involvement. Fifty‐nine per cent of them said that they voted in the 2010 general election. This compares favourably with estimates of young people nationally, and conforms to a general pattern across Western Europe; nevertheless, it points to almost half of young people who fail to exercise their most basic democratic right. Only half of the sample support a political party; two‐thirds cannot recognise the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the number of MPs in the House of Commons; three‐quarters have little or no trust in the government. Profiles of engagement Within this overall picture, however, a wide range of views and attitudes exists, and has been explored through statistical analysis. Most young people have some engagement with political and social issues, but a complex picture emerges, with five different distinguishable profiles, ranging from those who are highly politicised to those with no interest, with a sizeable group in the middle who are only partially engaged. http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/ 1
1 About a fifth of the sample have strong levels of engagement: they say they are interested in politics, frequently discuss politics with other people, have a good knowledge of the political system, and keep up with the news through papers, television and the internet. They seek information about political and social issues online and use social networking to discuss these issues. This group is more likely to be male (62 per cent) and studying at university (61 per cent). They are more likely than the other profiles to have parents educated to university level (around 30 per cent) and in professional or managerial work (40‐50 per cent). At the other extreme, about a fifth are uninterested and on the way to disengagement: they say they have little or no interest in politics, do not discuss politics with other people and are likely to regard politics as too complicated to understand. They may sometimes read newspapers, watch television news or read news on the internet, but have very little involvement in issues through social networking. Their knowledge of politics is restricted to the basics of the voting system. This group is slightly more likely to be female (56 per cent). Only 14 per cent of them are studying at university and they are more likely than the other profiles to be in a job or looking for a job (61 per cent). They are very unlikely to have parents who are in professional or managerial jobs or who are university‐educated. Uninterested
Slightly aware
Non‐political news consumer
Interested spectator
Highly engaged
In the middle are three groups who are partially engaged, and the similarities between these groups are as interesting as the differences. All of them watch or read the news sometimes and have some involvement in issues through social networking. Their knowledge of politics is limited and mainly restricted to the voting system. The occasional interest of the young people in these three groups may offer the potential for increased engagement. There are also noticeable differences, though, within these middle groups. The three profiles vary in their expressed interest in politics, from moderately high to very little. The profile with moderately high levels of political interest might be described as ‘interested spectators’. They are almost as likely to be university students as the politically engaged group (60 per cent). The next group, ‘non‐political news consumers’, with only moderate interest in and knowledge of politics is nevertheless the most likely to read a national newspaper daily (84 per cent). Only 39 per cent of the young people who fit this profile are studying at university. Finally, there is a ‘slightly aware’ profile: 2 moderately low levels of interest on all of the indicators, but not as low as the disengaged group. A minority of this group, too, are university students (36 per cent). ‘Traditional’ political involvement When analysed by these groups, the voting patterns in the 2010 election closely follow the expected profile. Eighty‐five per cent of the politically engaged group voted, against 30 per cent of the uninterested group, with the other three profiles lining up in between at 54 per cent, 64 per cent and 74 per cent. Correspondingly, 97 per cent of the politically engaged group say they were interested in the election, as against 10 per cent of the disengaged group and 42, 70 and 89 per cent respectively for ‘slightly aware’, ‘non‐political news consumers’ and ‘interested spectators’. Voted in the 2010 election: 30%
54%
64%
74%
85%
Amongst those who exercised their votes, the Liberal Democrats were the most popular party for every profile except ‘uninterested’, who were more likely to vote Labour or Conservative. Some support was apparent for all three of the main parties, with only small differences between the profiles. The politically engaged group are more likely to have made up their minds who to vote for some time ago, rather than during the election campaign. General support for any political party (rather than specific voting in the 2010 election) again varies by profile, with only 29 per cent of the uninterested group supporting any party, whilst 76 per cent of the politically engaged group do so. In answer to this question, by contrast to their voting patterns, the largest proportion of young people in all groups give their support to the Labour party. This, taken with the relatively high percentage who made up their minds during the election campaign, suggests a late swing to the Liberal Democrats amongst this age group. The survey also investigated more informal kinds of political involvement over the past year. Membership of clubs or groups with a focus on the environment or human rights, and membership of debating societies, is very low – no more than ten per cent in any group, with the politically engaged group at least twice as likely to be involved than any of the others. 3 Percentages for: donations to political causes, attendance at meetings, rallies or demonstrations, contacting an MP or the local council about an issue or getting together with other young people to campaign about an issue are slightly higher, with the politically engaged group at around 30 per cent and all the others much less. Taken part in a demonstration: 3%
8%
13%
16%
37%
One of the unique features of this survey was a longitudinal element, so it was possible to track the attitudes of the young people right back to the age of 12. Environmental activism, though never more than about 20 per cent, declined from this to almost nothing between the ages of 12 and 20, for all groups. This rather surprising finding may suggest that the environment is a topic of particular interest to young people in the early years of secondary school. Participation in debating societies peaked at age 18, before declining markedly. The active involvement of the politically engaged group in meetings, demonstrations and campaigns was emerging at the age of 18 and had increased further by the age of 20. The activism of the politically engaged group can be tracked back to the first survey, in several respects. Ever since the age of 12, young people with this profile were the most likely group to favour addressing problems by contacting a newspaper, contacting an MP, participating in non‐violent protests and signing petitions, and the most likely to watch the news on television. Political views When asked to name the single most important political issue of the day, a substantial majority of young people identify the economic crisis, in one way or another. This concern, which represents an accurate reflection of national political opinion in early 2011, is nevertheless framed in different ways by the different profiles. The politically uninterested group are more likely than the others to name ‘unemployment’ as the problem, whereas the others, and particularly the politically engaged group, are more likely to identify the issue as ‘the economy’ or ‘the financial crisis’. In all groups, however, a clear majority (55‐65 per cent) agree that the Government should guarantee a job for anyone who wants one, indicating that national unemployment is a concern to these young citizens, whatever their circumstances and opinions. 4 Issues other than the economy are named as ‘most important’ by only a small minority of the young people who completed this survey. The only entirely different issue to reach double figures is immigration. Although still a small minority, this is substantially more likely to be of concern to the uninterested group (16 per cent) than to any of the others (6‐10 per cent). Similarly, a clear majority of the uninterested group (66 per cent) agree with the proposition that ‘Britain does not have room to accept any more refugees’, as do 51 per cent of the ‘non political news consumer’ profile and 46 per cent in the ‘slightly aware’ group. The percentages among the two groups with the highest levels of political engagement are lower, at 37 and 34 per cent. Engagement through digital media In traditional forms of political engagement, then, the five profiles generally stack up in a predictable way, with only the most engaged group registering any consistent active involvement. This pattern breaks down when young people are asked about their use of the internet, Facebook and Twitter, when the three middle groups are much more similar than they are different. Here, the politically engaged group again register more interest than the others. However, there are quite high levels of engagement amongst the three ‘middle’ profiles as well. Over 40 per cent of these groups ‘find out about social and political issues from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter’ at least once a week. At least a quarter of them ‘use Facebook or Twitter to share information about social and political issues’ at least once a week, a much higher level of active involvement than in more traditional modes. The proportion who have ever signed an email or online petition is also quite high, ranging from 43 per cent among the ‘slightly aware’ group to 76 per cent of the highly engaged young people. Around 15 per cent of the three ‘middle’ profiles report sometimes writing a blog post, as do 25 per cent of those who are highly engaged. In these digital forms of political involvement, it is only the young people with the ‘uninterested’ profile who report little or no activity. Find out about social and political issues from Facebook or Twitter at least once a week: 10%
45%
42%
44%
65%
These figures suggest a higher level of interest and activity in political involvement through social networks than might be expected from the young people’s responses about more traditional modes. This could hold out the possibility of broadening their 5 involvement into a wider ranging civic and political participation, with carefully designed interventions. Barriers to greater involvement The survey also reveals, however, that there are significant barriers to greater participation. Young people tend not to believe that they can make any difference to events. When asked whether they agree that ‘People like me can have a real influence on government if they get involved’, the group most likely to agree were the highly engaged profile, with 68 per cent. Percentages for the other profiles declined following the expected pattern, with 51, 46, and 36 per cent in the middle groups and 21 per cent for the uninterested profile. Broadly, the partially engaged groups tend not to be optimistic about their capacity to shape the future. A further obstacle to fuller involvement can be observed in responses to the statement ‘Sometimes politics seems so complicated that I cannot understand what is going on’. Even in the highly engaged group, 30 per cent agree with this statement. In the middle groups, 51, 63 and 82 per cent see politics as too complicated, as do 80 per cent of the disengaged group. Finally, there is the question of trust. Across all five profiles, a substantial majority of young people, between 76 and 84 per cent, say that they have little or no trust in the politicians. This must present a considerable barrier to any attempt to bring about change in political involvement. Grounds for optimism? The unexpectedly high levels of digital involvement amongst the three‐fifths of young citizens who are only moderately interested in politics could hold out some hope for increased engagement. Young people get involved with news and information on the internet, and participate in discussions about issues through the range of contacts in their online social networks. However, any attempt to build on this finding would need to reflect the flexible nature of social networking and to recognise the obstacles that have also emerged. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that political and social issues are complex, it is important for democratic participation that young people should not regard them as impossibly complicated. They need to have a sufficient understanding of the principles to be able to reach a reasonably informed opinion, even if the details are obscure. Education is clearly 6 important here, and the findings of these surveys suggest that well‐judged teaching and discussion of political, economic and social issues with pupils throughout their education could have a positive effect by laying the foundations for and habits of political engagement for young people. There is also a suggestion that there should be a particular focus on such teaching and discussion in the final years of school, between the ages of 16 and 18, as this is the age‐range when many political opinions and habits appear to become settled. The issue of trust is one that is not restricted to young people, and does not have a simple solution. However, national spokespeople might wish to reflect on the damage done to young people’s political engagement by partial and selective presentations of facts and issues. Well‐designed online resources appear to have a role to play. These would need to be appealing, fitting with the flexibility of social networking, whilst being provided by trustworthy sources. There could be a great deal of scope for issues to be presented to young people in ways that will engage their interest and participation. If voting in national elections was online, together with hustings, arguments and debates, it would be more likely to capture the interest of young voters. Although the findings of this survey do not suggest a robust participative democracy amongst young citizens, some intriguing possibilities emerge when the perspective shifts from the traditional into digital forms of involvement. 7