Young people’s political discourse: Voice, efficacy and impact.

Prominent discourses of politically engaged young people in Western Europe have evolved recently. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons, notably, a greater proportion of the population going into further and higher education, a shift in shared values among many in the young generation, evolutions in the issues triggering mobilisation, the increased use of digital media and the more global nature of actions. This chapter deals with the expression and reception of prominent political discourse among much of the contemporary young generation. The main question addressed here is: to what extent do the actions of politically engaged young people enable them to enter dialogue with decision-makers and bring about changes in public decisions? To answer this question, the authors provide both an analysis of political discourses produced by young people and politicians at a macro-sociological level, and, material from their own field research in neighbouring countries Britain and France.The chapter shows the impact of the young generation’s political discourse on policymaking is not always very effective because the ambivalent status of young people means their voices are not always acted on by powerholders to any real effect.