Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_
16. There's a multitude of reasons why, but if you want the most important of them all just skip to the TLDR bit at the bottom.
For starters, up until the recent general election we've had a serious problem in this country with trying to encourage young people to participate in politics. There aren't many people (except a few on here  ) who think we shouldn't try and do something to alleviate that, and decreasing the voting age would be a good start. You only have to look at the successful turnout rates in the Scottish independence referendum among 16 and 17 year olds to see how it could be replicated elsewhere. It's quite simple - you introduce compulsory social science/political subjects to the curriculum from Y7 onwards, and voila, you have a politically minded cohort of young people ready to participate in democracy. The only reason this continues not to be implemented through successive governments is because a politically educated population is a threat to the establishment.
I also fundamentally disagree with the 'they wouldn't know what they're voting for/would vote stupidly' sentiment. How do I put this nicely? There's many, many people over the age 18...28...38...48, and so on, who are...let's say...not best equipped to be making an informed and rational vote themselves. The point is that there are people of all ages who know very little about politics, but still participate in elections. That is democracy. Unless people propose introducing some sort of exam before you're entitled to vote, then I don't see why extending the privilege to 16 and 17 year olds - who I'd say are about 80% more likely to be engaged in and studying politics than Brenda from Bristol - is such a problem. I was fully engrossed in politics by about 16 and a half, and so were many of my peers. If people don't care about politics and don't want to vote...they're not going to. This applies to 16 year olds just as much as it does 40 year olds.
Finally, and to the TLDR part: it's that old adage, no taxation without representation. No ifs, no buts, no rebuttals or disputes - that's literally the single most important reason. And an indefensible one as far as I'm concerned. |
Honestly,a superb post again Jack_
I don't disagree with a single point made.