Understanding the Policy Drivers and Effects of Voting Age Reform

Andy Mycock, Thomas Loughran, Jonathan Tonge

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

A common feature of debates about lowering the voting age to 16 has been an absence of analytical research which might explain the historical or contemporary policy drivers for voting age reform or its potential effects. The following chapter provides the first such attempt to fill this gap in the literature, establishing and then applying a thematic analytical framework to explain the drivers of voting age reform. It advances a thesis which argues that there are at least four thematic models that we can apply to enhance our understanding of the policy origins, justifications, and impacts for reforming the age of enfranchisement. The chapter applies these models to understand policy drivers informing voting age reform in the UK over the past 50 years or so. The chapter concludes that contemporary voting age reform draws on the same policy drivers but that they differ from previous reductions of the age of enfranchisement in their context and importance.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLowering the Voting Age to 16
Subtitle of host publicationLearning from Real Experiences Worldwide
EditorsJan Eichhorn, Johannes Bergh
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Chapter3
Pages43-63
Number of pages21
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)9783030325411
ISBN (Print)9783030325404
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Jan 2020

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in Young People and Politics
PublisherPalgrave

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