Making your voice heard?

Part of the ESRC funded Connecting Generations Thought Leader series.

The political context in which people grow up can play a hugely influential role in how that age cohort participate in democracy. From the dominance of different political parties and prevalence of strikes and protests, to the distribution of information and ideas through social media, the society people are raised in affects the ways in which they interact with politicians and political ideas. Maintaining an informed and engaged electorate in the decades to come requires grappling with these historical shifts and their implications for democratic governance.

Does the historical context of when a generation comes of age affect their political engagement? Are older generations, for example, who came of age in a period when elections were fundamental to the existence of democratic government, more likely to engage with political parties? What about younger generations coming of age in the historical moments that followed? And what can this tell us about how democratic governance and political participation could change in the future?

As part of the Connecting Generations series of Thought Leader Talks, the Resolution Foundation is hosting an event with Professor Maria Grasso to discuss how age, period and cohort analysis can help us examine generational differences in political activities. Following a presentation by Maria, we will hear from leading experts on what this means for the future of politics and democracy.

The event will be open for people to attend physically, alongside being broadcast via YouTube and the Resolution Foundation website. Viewers will be able to submit questions to the panel before and during the event via Slido.

Connecting Generations is a partnership between ESRC Centre for Population Change, Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and the Resolution Foundation. It aims to understand intergenerational connectivity, producing novel science that informs policy debate.