Voting Age Reform, Political Partisanship and Multi-Level Governance in the UK: The Party Politics of ‘Votes-at-16’

• Tonge, Jonathan ^[1] ; Loughran, Thomas ^[1] ; Mycock, Andrew ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Liverpool

     University of Liverpool

     Reino Unido

     
  2. [2] University of Huddersfield

     University of Huddersfield

     Kirkburton, Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Parliamentary affairs: A journal of representative politics, ISSN 0031-2290, Vol. 74, Nº 3, 2021, págs. 522-541
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsab020
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Dialnet Métricas: 1 Cita
• Resumen

  • The UK is now a multi-level polity with asymmetrical minimum ages of enfranchisement. The franchise was first extended to 16- and 17-year-olds in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The Scottish and Welsh governments now permit 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in elections to their devolved parliaments and local councils. The Northern Ireland Executive and the devolved authorities in England do not, however, have the power to change the voting age, and across all four nations of the UK, the age of franchise remains 18 for elections to the Westminster Parliament. The previous extension of the age of franchise, from 21 to 18 in 1969, attracted little controversy or political partisanship. But while there has been considerable political consensus regarding voting age reform in Scotland and Wales, debate over ‘Votes-at-16’ for Westminster elections has witnessed growing party-based partisanship. This article draws upon elite interviews with politicians across the political spectrum elected to Westminster and the devolved institutions on their attitudes to voting age reform, conducted as part of a 2-year Leverhulme Trust ‘Lowering the Voting Age in the UK’ project. The article argues that the multi-level party politics of the ‘Votes-at-16’ debate has consolidated rival party opinions on voting age reform at Westminster but not beyond.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Birch, (2015), Parliamentary Affairs, 68, pp. 291, 10.1093/pa/gsu019
  • Chan, (2006), Political Studies, 54, pp. 533, 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2006.00620.x
  • Cook, (2013), Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 16, pp. 439, 10.1080/13698230.2013.795707
  • Cowley, (2004), Representation, 41, pp. 57, 10.1080/00344890408523289
  • Eichhorn, (2020), Lowering the Voting Age to 16, 10.1007/978-3-030-32541-1
  • Folkes, (2004), Representation, 41, pp. 52, 10.1080/00344890408523288
  • Franklin, (2020), Lowering the Voting Age to 16, pp. 13, 10.1007/978-3-030-32541-1_2
  • Government, (1998), Northern Ireland Act 1998
  • Hahn, (2015), Research in Comparative and International Education, 10, pp. 95, 10.1177/1745499914567821
  • Hill, (2017), Scottish Affairs, 26, pp. 48, 10.3366/scot.2017.0163
  • Huebner, (2020), Lowering the Voting Age to 16, pp. 121, 10.1007/978-3-030-32541-1_7
  • Loughran, (2019), Political Insight, 10, pp. 32, 10.1177/2041905819871845
  • Loughran, (2021), Contemporary British History, 10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589
  • Mycock, (2012), Parliamentary Affairs, 65, pp. 138, 10.1093/pa/gsr053
  • Senedd, Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act
  • Tonge, (2012), Political Studies, 60, pp. 578, 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2011.00931.x
  • Weinberg, (2018), British Educational Research Journal, 44, pp. 573, 10.1002/berj.3446
  • Whiteley, (2014), Parliamentary Affairs, 67, pp. 513, 10.1093/pa/gss083
  • (2009), Old Enough to Make a Mark? Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16’
  • (2009), Making the Connection. Building Youth Citizenship in the UK