Young adults and electioral turnout in Britain: towards a generational model of political participation

Since 1992 the proportion of young citizens turning out to vote at British general elections has declined dramatically. This paper argues that there is a strong case to suspect that long-term factors are involved, not just those factors associated with lifecycle explanations of political participation. What makes this issue important is that if the electoral characteristics of today’s young people adhere to them as they age, then
through cohort replacement their participatory characteristics are likely to become the norm rather than the exception. The second part of the paper tests civic voluntarism, equity fairness, social capital, cognitive mobilisation and general incentives models of
electoral turnout revealing factors specific to young citizens decision to vote. The findings show that in 2001 and 2005 young citizens decision to vote was conditioned
by their social class position, levels of political knowledge and social capital.