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- not for some years judging by the current dreary options to choose from, but you can live in hope :-)
- Totally agree that the discussion about engagement should be about getting politicians to engage with the people they represent not the other way round - I think falling numbers of voters are going...
- ah well if you're making a case for voting at much younger ages too ie. we're all citizens I'm interested in that albeit obviously all sorts of implications but I can agree that the...
- I wouldn't say that it is a ground up campaign (from young people) but I don't think that makes the case for it invalid. I also don't think voting reduces young people's childhood....
- it doesn't make sense, but then neither does it if 16 year olds can't have other adult responsibilities too, so do you also lower the age at which people can buy cigarettes, buy alcohol, be...
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I commented in a discussion a while ago that one of the features of the right for children and young people to participate was also the right to choose not to participate. After I’d said it I wasn’t quite sure if it was actually what [..
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1 year ago
And if I respect you, then I should be listening to your reasons for not wanting to participate, and should be taking that on board in persuading you to participate, or changing the method of participation offered.
1 year ago
An example of this is people who didn't vote in the last election out of principal of the Iraq war. People that didn't want to vote Conservative or Labour (both war supporting) or Liberal Democrat (maybe not convincing or just not understandable?) and so either didn't vote or voted for the Green Party for example. I would have considered this a 'wasted vote' - there's no point voting for the Green Party because theres no prospect of them having power therefore you're not influencing change - and by the same measure not voting is a wasted vote.
It would have been very interesting though had there been an option to 'abstain on principle' and to have seen the reasons given. Arguably this would then actually have some power, because if a large number of people cited the same reason, those politicians that want to win these 'non votes' would have some information about what these people want/don't want. (fits the criteria for your 'I should be listening for your reasons for not wanting to participate' Tim). I wonder what would happen if these non votes were the majority though!?
(Those are not my political views - just an example!)
This doesn't just have to apply in politics - in the traditional meeting structure there should be an option to abstain during voting. How many young people sitting on forums, councils and committee's are made aware of this? From what I've seen on courses, very few - most people think voting is a simple yes/no process. Typically though abstentions 'don't count' so maybe its not abstentions thats needed - it is some sort of 'principled non participation'.