With the US presidential election on November 3rd and the UK general election in December 2019, it's been a busy year for the world of politics. You can't go on social media or the news without seeing an article about Brexit or an advert pushing the Biden or Trump campaign.
The world of politics is inevitable and unavoidable; however it can be shown that despite the large social media campaigns and protests along streets, there is an inherent disinterest in politics. Why is that?
Let's start examining education in politics. On a positive note, there were 19,729 entries for political studies A-level, up 9.8% on 2018(The Guardian). Perhaps interested by the huge amount of social change around the world, young people feel obliged to take interest in the changing world around them.
However based on the statistics of the 2019 election, the older generation hold a higher turnout than that of our generation. Could it be that the percentage of younger people engaged in politics is equally weighted with younger people don't exercise their right to vote?
Polling research from IPSOS Mori suggests that turnout in 2019 ranged from 47% among 18 to 24-year‑olds up to 74% among over-65s.
Source: The Commons Library
This clear disinterest makes our generation so open to scrutiny. Many of us if asked would like to say we're progressive and liberal. We shop sustainably, try to stop questionable behavior (cancel culture) and stand up for LGBT+ rights among so many other things.
Yet, when it comes to voting, we lack motivation to head to the polling station even though the government that gets into power will introduce policies that will inevitably effect our entire lives. At this current moment, so many of us are allowing the elderly population to choose what will be our future.
My hope will be in the years to come, our generation will gain much more interest in the world of politics. But for now, as long as this lack of engagement continues, the younger generation will always be under the control of the elderly.