Political Participation and EU Citizenship: Perceptions and Behaviours of Young People

Young people's political participation has long been a concern. Loss of community ties, little interest in and knowledge of political processes, low levels of trust in politicians and growing cynicism of democratic institutions are often seen as indicators of the younger generations’ weakened sense of citizenship and political engagement (Pirie and Worcester, 1998; Haste and Hogan, 2006; Dalton,2008; Stoker, 2006; YCC, 2009 in Mycock and Tonge, 2011). This view is usually supported by making reference to low and declining levels of participation in traditional modes of political engagement such as voting and joining political parties.