In the previous two articles of this series (Youth Voter Registration Drops Below 40% Compared To 2019 General Elections and Can Youth Participation In Voting Go Up With Stronger Civic Education?) on making sense of youth voters’ participation in electoral politics, I have discussed the important role of easing voter registration process and an engaging citizenship education to initiate the youth into the democratic processes of the country. But this can easily remain only at the idea level till the time we make a concrete strategy including all the institutions of the country, including the state institutions, market institutions and civil society institutions.
Moral responsibility of State institutions and Civil Society
The moral responsibility of creating a constitutionally literate youth squarely lies with State institutions, primarily educational institutions, as well as civil society, specifically political parties. However, this engagement can’t be done with a didactic approach as it doesn’t provide the youth the space to think, discuss, debate and figure it out for themselves. In most matters of life, the youth feel that they are being told what to do – either by family or teachers, or by society in general. Thus, it is extremely important to not have an agenda driven engagement with youth but truly a democratic one where their voices are heard non-judgmentally, views are respected and there is a space to examine all positions before making one’s own mind. Democracy can’t be told but only practiced, and only in this practice of democracy can we create an intrinsic interest in furthering democracy among the youth.
Thus, apart from State institutions, it is the political parties who are morally responsible to engage with youth without an agenda of recruiting them into their fold. The youth are capable enough to figure out their own perspectives if provided a safe space to openly express their views, discuss, and even change their opinions. Thus, to get the youth interested in democratic processes, the political parties themselves need to be democratic to their core by including youth voices and leadership. We know that the average age of Lok Sabha has been increasing since independence and it stands at 55 years now, starting from 46 in 1952.
Having a strong mandate to select youth candidates will also send a signal among the larger youth population that their views and voices are respected which will encourage further participation. It is for this reason that we see youth participating in panchayati raj elections more than state or union elections because the average age of sarpanches is 34. An agenda free outreach to youth with specific provisions for their proportional representation can be the crucial link in passing the baton of democracy to the next generation.
The role of market in shaping youth aspirations
Generally when we discuss democratization processes and youth’s political participation, we focus on the role of government and civil society organizations to encourage and enable the youth. However, in this discussion we completely miss out on what the role market plays in this equation. Some people may even argue that market’s main role is to creative livelihood opportunities for youth and there isn’t much that market can do for deepening democracy. But this is not true at all. Market through advertisements of its products and services, and the promotion of certain kind of lifestyle plays a central role in shaping desires and aspirations of youth. The kind of life a young person wants to live is shaped by various factors including family background, socio-economic context as well as personal inclinations, but market also is an integral element in this influence.
When the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes campaign was started by a team in Janaagraha and Tata Tea in 2008, one of the central tool that was used to shape youth’s aspiration for electoral engagement was through a series of advertisements which were provocatively funny. Of course, since then political advertising has become huge, especially with the advent of social media advertisements. Most political parties, civil society groups and politically aware market institutions have been drawing on the power of advertising for initiating youth into electoral participation.
However, an important question here is whether the market institutions themselves have embedded Constitutional values in their functioning. To encourage youth to vote is definitely a Constitutional right and duty but there is much more to democracy than just voting. How much are the market institutions able to create a just, equitable, humane ,and sustainably conscious space for youth to express themselves freely and participate in decision making processes?
We can’t expect the people in the country to be democratically oriented if they don’t see it being practiced in their work environments where they spend a substantial amount of time. The Constitution is not only a document meant for judiciary or legislative/executive to follow but it provides the guiding principles for all socio-economic-cultural activities happening in the country. The market institutions have equal moral responsibility as the State and Civil Society to ensure that the Constitutional values are practiced in everyday life of the citizens of this country. Only then can we ensure that the democratic way of life is valued in all the spheres of this country’s functioning and the youth feels that engaging in democratic processes is the most obvious thing to do.
With this multi-pronged approach of simplifying the voter registration process, engaged civics/citizenship education during schooling and higher education, as well as provisions of democratic safe spaces in communities and institutions (state, market, and civil society), we can hope to activate and energize the tremendous youth population of the country to become democratically engaged.
Asim Siddiqui teaches Philosophy and Development at Azim Premji University and works with many Youth Development Organizations. ‘The content and opinions expressed are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Azim Premji University.’