The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts

1: Why Political Dropouts Matter

1 Why Political Dropouts Matter T he last phrase in the subtitle of this book is provocative: the expression “political dropout” evokes the image of young people who have withdrawn not from the world of education but from the world of politics, but also suggesting that there is some connection between the two. And it conveys a sense of urgency to better understand, and thus address, the phenomenon. The young people discussed here were under thirty when most of the research on which this book is based was conducted. While there is much to distinguish the world in which they entered adulthood from that of earlier generations, the omnipresence of the Internet is undeniably the most salient factor. The term “Internet generation” is thus more than descriptive; it raises an unavoidable question: does growing up with the Internet foster engaged citizens or political dropouts? Opinion is divided—even about what phrases to use. I chose the term “engaged citizen” because—as we shall see later in this chapter, when we set out the positions of the prominent observers and theorists in this debate— it is favored by those on one side, who view these developments in a positive light. My concern with political dropouts places me among those who see developments as worrisome. It leads me to stress the informed political participation—that is, the political knowledge and attentiveness, as well as the electoral participation—of the Internet generation, and to look primarily to citizen or civic education to enhance it. It is only at the end of part 1, in chapters 4 and 5, that we set out facts and figures about the political knowledge and electoral participation of the Internet generation. In chapters 2 and 3, we place the political dropout phenomenon in the context of the fundamental sociological and technological developments that have taken place in the past sixty years. First we consider factors affecting socialization, especially changes in the 4 // citizens in the making role of the family; then we proceed to the mass media, beginning with the emergence of television and including an assessment of the effects of the Internet. Other factors also affect informed political participation, and some, at least in principle, are within the reach of policy or institutional reform . In part 2, we first examine the effects of relevant political institutions , especially those concerned with how elections take place. Then, in part 3, we turn to education, civic education in particular. We outline a pedagogical approach making optimal use of the communications media of the Internet generation, and, in the concluding chapter, set the approach within the framework of the complementary political institutions identified in part 2. Concrete recommendations draw on examples of complementary institutions and promising practices in certain countries. The perspective here is North American. Other countries such as the United Kingdom— about and from which we have a rich, relevant literature—are brought in to place the North American reality in wider comparative context. The Nordic countries are given special attention, since their experiences appear to provide promising guidelines toward the path to follow. Green and Apolitical? People reaching adulthood after 1990 entered a world fundamentally transformed from that of earlier generations. This world has given young people extraordinary technological innovations, but it has another side. In their lifetimes, members of this post–cold war, Internet generation will be confronted with a world drowning in debt and overheated by carbon emissions. Even though most of today’s young citizens are aware of the challenges that environmental threats pose, that consciousness has yet to find its way into any kind of comprehensive or effective political program. Instead, concern about the issue is typically manifested in consumption choices or other forms of individual expression. And when it comes to political mobilization and participation, passivity tends to be the rule, a passivity often rationalized by a generalized rejection of politics. The response to this phenomenon among academic analysts of political participation has been varied. Some see this rejection in positive terms, calling for a redefinition of the very notion of political participa- why political dropouts matter // 5 tion so as to incorporate the individual attitudes and consumption choices of young people. These analysts downplay the role of political parties and other traditional types of political organizations in favor of transnational Internet-based networks, which, it is presumed, add a political dimension to individual...