Who Made This Mess We’re In?

by Apathy is Boring Intern Patrick Burkhard — July 19, 2007

    There exists a plethora of studies examining the issue of youth voter apathy, examining what youth is feeling and why youth are not voting.  The situation has been well documented.  What is missing however is the account of how things in real terms ended up this way and what can be done from an institutional and governmental standpoint to turn the tide on low voter turnout.  With this information, the government can recognize the part it has played and what can be done to further democracy in Canada, and to bring us all closer. 

    One of the best arguments put forth is in a 2003 Margaret Adsett article, from the Journal of Youth Studies, entitled “Change in Political Era and Demographic Weight as Explanations of Youth ‘Disenfranchisement’ in Federal Elections in Canada, 1965-2000”.  In the piece, she provides an excellent overview of how the demographic weight of youth has shifted since the 1970s onward.  As she describes, the story partly starts with Pierre Elliot Trudeau.  During the 1970s, youth had the demographic weight as the baby boomers were coming of age.  Trudeau recognized the problems that this posed and he adjusted much of the government’s activities along youth lines, putting into place programs such as summer employment for students and more generally undertaking policies which were representative of youth attitudes, such as human rights and justice causes.  As Adsett displays, youth voting percentages were over 70% during the 1970s.  What happened is the baby boomers have aged, and along with this the government has adjusted its priorities accordingly.  The issues have since changed, and youth today gets little attention in terms of government policy. 

    Also during this time is what Adsett sees as a switch from a Third-Party to a Post-Third-Party system.  The former is a period which was characterized by strong oppositional parties and the existence of only a few parties in the House of Commons.  During this period, there were also a number of minority governments.  What changed however was that following Trudeau, Canada entered into the Post-Third Party period.  This latter period, as Adsett asserts, is seen as less responsive to the public and is generally characterized by strong majority governments as well as greater fragmentation in the House of Commons.  This shift has also had an effect on youth as parties have been not only leaving the youth issues off the table, but the political state of affairs has not been favourable to a youth eager for attention and engagement.    

    From Mulroney to the present day, governments have not only been ignoring issues that are important to youth, but have also moved against youth.  Adsett states that “Asking youth to participate in electoral politics in the post-Trudeau era would be like asking them to engage in: (a) the dismantling of the welfare state (b) the cutting of social programs which help get them established”.  Therefore, government priorities have been counter to youth’s interests.  No wonder youth are feeling pushed aside by the political system.  Youth are being told more and more, through the elimination of government assistance, that they are to rely upon themselves for their future and well being.  Society has been attempting to draw in youth with one hand while marginalizing and excluding them with the other. 

    What has thus happened with youth in regards to political activity is that they are finding themselves and a voice in non-conventional political places.  A Livianna Tossutti article examining political engagement in youth, specifically contrasting the activities of newcomers to Canada with native-born youth, found that Canadians were more likely to pick more informal modes of contributing their time politically, with only 5 % of the membership of Canada’s political parties being under 30.  The case for young newcomers is also much worse, which is a scary fact considering immigration is a fundamental part of Canada’s population growth strategy.  Politicians will need to work to ensure that newcomers to Canada, especially the youth, become politically active and involved. 

    The new informal methods youth are choosing are often representative of their individual beliefs and choices, which conventional parties are ignoring.  This interest driven model does not do much in terms of societal longevity and maintaining thriving communities and societies.  Unresponsive governments will only lead to further societal division.  When examining the growing context in Quebec, Madeleine Gauthier has found strong activity amongst the youth in non-mainstream political activities.  Despite this growing trend, which is encouraging in terms of the fact that youth are active, just not in the party system, Gauthier still believes that “Simply bringing the concern [for what will happen in future generations] out in the open is already pushing political parties, governments and education authorities to be more vigilant about the community socialization of young people and the importance of electoral participation, which, it should be mentioned, is the most widespread means of democratically dealing with those issues”.

    Now where does all of this leave us?  We have a disengaged youth and a governmental system which has been responsible for furthering the dislocation of youth from politics.  The first thing that must change is to increase the civic education in society.  This will only secure the legacy of the Canadian political order, if through civic education future generations can be lured in.  For today’s youth however, the picture is a little different.  Politics and our leaders themselves must change priorities, mandates and habits of being.  Youth must be given a voice through a respectful process.  This article has described where our story began.  It is up to older generations to decide where the story is going.

A place to start looking for more answers – check out our Youth Friendly Guide to find out how to build intergenerational partnerships and include youth!    

Sources:

1. Gauthier, Madeleine.  2003.  The Inadequacy of Concepts:  The Rise of Youth Interest in Civic Participation in Quebec.  Journal of Youth Studies.  Vol. 6, No. 3.
2. Adsett, Margaret.  2003.  Change in Political Era and Demographic Weight as Explanations of Youth ‘Disenfranchisement’ in Federal Elections in Canada, 1965-2000.  Journal of Youth Studies.  Vol. 6, No. 3. Tossutti, Livianna S.  2003.  Does Volunteerism Increase the Political Participation of Young Newcomers?  Assessing the Potential of Individual and Group-Based Forms of Unpaid Service.  Canadian Ethnic Studies.  Vol.35, Iss. 3.