Lecture 7 - Youth and Social Change

Question 1

what is the crisis narrative around youth participation

Answer 1

• Political apathy among the young
• Democratic deficit: low voter turnout
• Is this not due to a narrow interpretation of what politics can be?
• Limited focus on voting, party membership, etc
  main point : political participation and its form

Question 2

How do political scientists frame political participation

Answer 2

empirical studies that measure and count political participation, for example, voting and membership of political parties.”

Question 3

How does Political sociology frame political participation

Answer 3

qualitative work with more interpretative ambitions (who, why, how)

Question 4

what is conventional politics

Answer 4

“voting in elections, being a member of a political party, taking part in other activities linked to the electoral process and political parties, such as working for a party or a candidate, belonging to a trade union and contacting public officials in political bodies, reading about politics, taking part in discussions about politics, etc.”

Question 5

what is Unconventional politics

Answer 5

acts or actions carried out by citizens in order to contest and influence traditional forms of political decision-makers. Among others, these covered signing a petition, going on a protest march….etc

Question 6

Elite-directed activities:

Answer 6

encompass voting, being a member of a political party, standing for office, etc.

Question 6

Elite directing/challenging activities:

Answer 6

include taking part in political discussions, participating in new social movements, protesting, demonstrating, boycotting, signing a petition, occupying a space, striking unofficially, etc.

Question 7

Narrow definition of politics

Answer 7

(1) Voting
(2) Election campaigning for political parties
(3) Taking part in communal activities
(4) Contacting decision- makers

Question 8

Broad definition of politics

Answer 8

All voluntary activities by individual citizens intended to influence either directly or indirectly political choices at various levels of the political system

Question 9

list the types of power

Answer 9

• Positional power (power over) = power wielded by virtue of the authority of one’s position
• Relational power (power with) = derived from charisma, interpersonal trust, solidarity
• Power based on expertise =*derived from value within an organisation based on specialised insight

Question 10

What is the thesis of political alienation theory

Answer 10

• Their lack of participation is as much to do with their perceptions about being excluded from politics as it is to do with their lack of interest and understanding of it
• Young people do not feel listened to and politicians are viewed as ‘untrustworthy’, ‘selfinterested’, ‘ineffective’, ‘remote and unrepresentative’

Question 11

“Do-it-Ourselves” Political Participation

Answer 11

Part of a shared experience in politics operating outside political institutions.
For example: climate change, Black Lives Matter, War against Ukraine