According to Centrepoint, more than half of 18-24 year olds were not even registered to vote in the 2010 UK General Election, and that this consistent pattern leads to the concerns of such people to be ignored by politicians from all parties, who instead fashion polices in favor of those who do vote: older people. In this age of austerity, spending on programs benefiting older voters have either been maintained or boosted, sometimes to the detriment of programs geared toward younger people.
Centrepoint concludes that more young people need to vote if their interests are to be represented in the United Kingdom's governing institutions.
With this in mind, I believe that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge should join with Centrepoint in urging Britain's eligible youth to register to vote, and here's why:
1. They can continue a tradition of encouraging civic participation
In the 19th Century, Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert desired to expand the voting franchise to more people, which was shared with the Tory Prime Minister of the 1840's, Sir Robert Peel. He was a man of the reformist mold, and greatly influenced the direction of the constitutional monarchy as it adapted to the changing nature of politics in Britain with the aspirations of the rising middle classes and the industrial working classes.
With the establishment of the Order of the British Empire and the expansion of the honors system in the 20th Century, the monarchy also rewarded, and provided encouragement for, individuals who were engaged in their local communities to make a difference.
These days, Prince Charles has been stressing the value of participation in one's community and being active in pursuits that can help people and advance causes.
By urging young people to register to vote, as well as to get out and vote, the Duke and Duchess can continue this tradition by encouraging them to do their civic duty, and he can also provide further evidence that constitutional monarchy and democratic participation can go hand-in-hand in the 21st Century.
2. They can reach out to younger generations
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have resonated with younger people since their marriage in 2011, and have helped to rejuvenate interest in the monarchy from within the age group of 18-24, where support for a republic has fallen to a lowly 18%.
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| The Palace of Westminster - the meeting place of the UK Parliament in London. |
They can use their appeal to great advantage by emphasizing the need for their generation to step up and to use their voting rights to make their concerns and aspirations known to the politicians in London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, and elsewhere throughout the United Kingdom.
3. They can act as nonpartisans
Republicans may say that by encouraging people to vote, William and Kate will be "wading" into politics and breaking the constitutional convention of the Royal Family not voting in elections.
However, merely getting young people to vote is not by itself an act of political partisanship. The couple would speak out to all young Britons to exercise the franchise, but leave the choice of political candidate or party to the individual voters, whilst also imploring them to educate themselves on the issues and the candidates. This would be helpful since some youths are not (yet) ideologically-minded and do not want to feel pressured into declaring a political affiliation - which is especially the case with apathetic people.
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| Voting underway during the AV referendum in 2011. |
In the United States, there are similar issues of apathy amongst younger people, who historically have been the least represented at the polls, especially in non-presidential elections. This lack of representation at the polls translates into a lack of concern for the issues facing young people from the politicians, who feel the need to only respond to the people to sent them to the legislative body - be it Congress, Parliament, local councils, etc. - who tend to be older voters. Such a situation results in elected assemblies that are not truly representative, and which have skewed priorities without input from the up-and-coming generations, who will have to live with the decisions the politicians make today.
Worse, as the government continuously appears to be tone-deaf to their priorities, more young people become apathetic and disillusioned towards the political system, causing more of them to avoid the polls and feeding into a everlasting cycle of more apathy and less participation.
As the future King and Queen, William and Kate are in a position to help end this cycle by stressing the importance of exercising the hard-fought right to vote. Taking part in the democratic process via voting will not guarantee anything, but it will ensure that decisions in the legislative bodies will have greater input from young people since the politicians will realize that they are no longer a constituency to be ignored. In other words, the decisions will likely be more reflective and representative of the nation as a whole, rather than a segment of it. Making voices known speaks volumes, and this kind of message would be in a complete contrast to people like Russell Brand.
William in particular could say that his own future reign will not be possible without the full and democratic participation of all people - young and old - who will determine the future of the kingdom, further emphasizing the vital connection between Crown and People.
Photo Credit: UK_repsome via Flickr cc, Simon Jones via Flickr cc, DaniKauf via Wikimedia Commons cc, Bryn Salisbury via Flickr cc
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