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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Emily RainsfordORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
After a long decline in membership in political parties across Western democracies, parties in the UK have seen an upsurge, especially in young members. Surprisingly, few studies have explored young members of political parties. This article addresses this gap and examines the following: Who are the young party activists? What do they think about politics? What are their motivations for political participation? This article draws on a unique dataset of activists in the three main parties youth factions in the UK. It finds that the youth faction activists have very similar socioeconomic backgrounds, perceive themselves to be politically effective and hold quite positive views about politicians. The analysis also shows that these young people do not consider their youth faction to be the only way for them to influence politics and are not self-interestedly motivated—that is, joining to begin or advance a political career. Finally, the article proposes improvements as to how political parties, and their youth factions, engage with young people in order to secure their future viability.
Author(s): Rainsford E
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Parliamentary Affairs
Year: 2018
Volume: 71
Issue: 4
Pages: 783-803
Print publication date: 01/10/2018
Online publication date: 31/10/2017
Acceptance date: 04/10/2017
Date deposited: 08/11/2017
ISSN (print): 0031-2290
ISSN (electronic): 1460-2482
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsx040
DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsx040
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