How do children and young people make sense of politics? As the UK prepares to extend voting rights to 16-year-olds, questions about political literacy, civic engagement and democratic participation have become increasingly important. But how do younger audiences actually understand the political world around them? In this episode of The Sound of Politics Podcast, Professor Stephen Coleman explores how children learn about politics and asks what happens when young people encounter political messages, campaigns and public debate. How do they interpret political events? What shapes their political understanding? And what should politicians, educators and communicators know about engaging with a new generation of voters? Joining Stephen is Dr Rebecca Simpson-Hargreaves from the University of Manchester, whose research examines how children and young people develop political awareness and understanding. Together, they explore the ways younger audiences engage with political issues and consider what the extension of voting rights to 16-year-olds could mean for political communication and democratic participation.
This episode explores young voters, political literacy, civic education, democracy, political communication, youth engagement and the future of democratic participation.