Young people have become increasingly disillusioned with British democracy, as illustrated by low levels of trust and political participation. This is especially the case for youth from less well-off groups.
In the 2024 general election, less than a quarter of 18-24-year olds from the lowest (DE) social grade turned out to vote. With the growing threats of populism, misinformation and extremism, it is more important than ever that we address this democratic deficit.
Whilst young people are sceptical about parties and elections, they are interested in political issues, involved in social movements, and volunteer as much as previous generations. The challenge is to build bridges between younger generations and democratic institutions between elections. This is best achieved at the local level. Hansard Society data shows that just under half of all 18-24-year-olds – and over half of 18-24-year-olds with from less well-off backgrounds – want to be more involved in local decision-making.
In the context of several UK Government reforms set out in 2024 and 2025 to promote youth voice – lowering of the voting age to 16, the emphasis placed on youth participation in the new National Youth Strategy, and the expansion of citizenship education in schools – there is a great opportunity to rejuvenate democracy. The key is to improve the quality of interactions between young people and policy-makers at the local and city level between elections through what Nobel Prize-winner Elinor Ostrom termed ‘co-operative governance’ – with economic and social benefits for young people and their communities, as well as for the cost-effectiveness of public policy.
In my new book, I present the findings of a five-year research project on how local and civic authorities can turn youth voice into sustainable public policy. Drawing on in-depth research with young Londoners and the Greater London Authority and other examples from the UK and overseas, the study explores the opportunities and pitfalls for youth engagement initiatives. I introduce the concept of ‘civic mentoring’ to explain how best practice has the potential to increase trust and participation, build stronger communities, and increase the quality of public policy. Speaking about the need for youth voice in his area, a policy maker in the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime explained:
in order to do my job well, I need to be speaking to young people with experiences of victimization and the police… [there is a] wealth of experience and ideas.
The research also shows how enhanced youth engagement can bring economic benefits through volunteering, improving the job prospects of young participants and reducing the risks of young people becoming unemployed or involved in crime. It, thus, identifies youth participation as a key ingredient of inclusive and effective (‘good’) governance (OECD report on youth and governance).
Most local and civic authorities run youth engagement programmes, but research shows that – despite the best of intentions – many of these initiatives are not ‘meaningful’ and ‘inclusive’ and liable to become tokenistic box-ticking exercises. Inclusive youth engagement means avoiding the over-selection of youth from higher socio-economic groups i.e. considering who participates. Meaningful youth engagement entails careful consideration of when and how young people are brought into the policy-making process.
The civic mentoring model identifies three key stages for effective youth engagement over a sustained period of time (illustrated in the figure below).
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First, officials in charge of youth engagement initiatives should focus on overseeing the personal development of those who take part (Stage 1): providing pastoral support and developing transferable skills that can help with obtaining employment and in engaging with policy-makers e.g. by practicing public speaking, making films, managing events.
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Second, youth voice initiatives should offer a variety of opportunities for horizontal civic engagement (Stage 2): opportunities for young participants to run outreach projects for their peers e.g. deliberative events on environmental policy, as an effective way of reaching out into their communities.
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Third, the young people involved in these initiatives should be given the opportunity to work with and influence policy-makers on issues that have meaning for their everyday lives at an early stage in the decision-making process (Stage 3).
Turning youth voice into public policy is an ambitious but ultimately beneficial agenda with democratic, social and economic benefits over a sustained period of time. This requires the institutionalization of youth engagement by local and civic authorities, working with the youth sector to recruit and support the participation of youth from low-income or traditionally marginalised groups, as well as providing core training for policy teams civic mentoring by local authorities for working with children and young people as partners.
Readers can access the introduction to Turning Youth Voice into Sustainable Public Policy for free here.
All royalties for the book will be donated to youth voice charities chosen by young researchers who contributed to this study.
James Sloam is Professor of Politics at Royal Holoway University. He has published extensively on issues relating to youth participation in democracy, including recent books on youth and elections in the UK, Europe and the United States (Palgrave 2019 and 2025). James has worked extensively with civil society, civic authorities and international organisations to empower young people from traditionally marginalised groups through civic and political engagement, including UNICEF UK. He developed the concept of ‘civic mentoring’ through work with the Mayor of London’s Peer Outreach Team, to amplify youth voice and improve the quality of public policy. His research with organisations ranging from Partnership for Young London to the United Nations (World Public Sector Report 2023) highlights practical steps for policy-makers to engage with young people. These insights are explored in depth in his new book, Turning youth voice into sustainable public policy: The promise of urban democracy (Bristol University Press 2025): the introduction can be downloaded for free using the link.
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