Huebner, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-0321-2546 and Eichhorn, J. (2022) The tide raising all boats? Social class differences in political participation among young people in Scotland. Scottish Affairs, 31 (2). pp. 165-189. ISSN 0966-0356
Abstract
Social class differences in political participation are a pressing issue for democracies and they are particularly severe among young people in the UK. Disadvantaged young people are the least likely to be politically engaged in the UK and it is assumed that with declining levels of participation inequalities in political participation increase. What happens to political inequality though when levels of youth participation increase? Do more advantaged young people account for most of the extra participation or do disadvantaged young people ‘catch up’?
Based on representative survey data, this paper investigates levels of political inequality among 16- and 17-year-olds in a context of increasing participation in Scotland. We find that in Scotland young people of all social classes were equally likely to be politically engaged, while among young people in the rest of the UK and adults from Scotland those of higher social status were more likely to be engaged in politics. Overall, social class differences in political engagement were less pronounced amongst 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. The paper offers some possible explanations of this finding and suggestions for further research.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 Edinburgh University Press. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Scottish Affairs. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | political participation; social class; inequality; young people; youth participation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 May 2022 06:53 |
Last Modified: | 11 May 2022 03:49 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Edinburgh University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3366/scot.2022.0407 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:186567 |