Australasian Political Studies Association conference

The Youth Electoral Study (YES) examines why many young people (ages 15-25) are reluctant to exercise their democratic right of suffrage. YES considers the Australian context, however low youth turnout has been identified as a concern in many other democratic nations. YES methodology includes focus groups conducted with a broad range of young people and a written survey distributed to final year high school students in schools across Australia. YES aims at enabling young people with a voice and the capacity to discuss their own views of politics and participation. A tendency of much existing research is to assume a ‘civic deficit ’ where non-participation is considered a failing of youth. By contrast I ask in this paper “what prevents young people from exercising their democratic rights through voting? ” In addressing this question I explore some of the social and structural barriers facing young people with respect to the exercise of their democratic rights. Whilst I acknowledge a normative framework where democracy is desirable, I consider not young people, but instead a non-inclusive democracy, as the problem requiring redress. In particular I investigate aspects of the procedures involved in registering and voting, conceptions of power and perceptions of the democratic process and of the efficacy of voting