Invest in youth - win the elections

This article is written by Birgitta Ohlsson, Director of Political Parties, National Democratic Institute (NDI).

• The problem: Half of the world's population is under 30 and yet only 2.8 % of Members of Parliament globally represent this age group.

• Why it matters: Younger generations will live the longest with the consequences of laws passed today. If young voices are not represented, policies are not likely to fully reflect their opinions.

• The solution: Countries with political parties that have well functioning, strong and independent political youth wing organizations with meaningful power are more successful in getting young people elected.

What do Jens Stoltenberg (soon former Nato Secretary-General and previous Prime Minister of Norway), Olaf Scholz, (the Chancellor of Germany), Ulf Kristersson (the Swedish Prime Minister) and the former Prime Ministers of Finland, Sanna Marin, and Jacinda Ardern from New Zealand have in common?

Well, all of them have been active in party youth wings as activists, elected presidents or part of the leadership on national or international level. Jacinda Ardern led the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), Ulf Kristersson and Jens Stoltenberg were presidents in their youth wing organization.

And it seems to be a correlation between strong political youth wings and a better representation for young people in national parliaments. Norway is ranked number one in the world with 13,6% of MPs aged 30 and under. Germany is reaching 8,8 % and Sweden 6,59 %. The Nordic countries are performing well with Iceland 7,9 % and Denmark 7,8 %. But this is not only a Scandinavian affair. Countries with high levels of activism and protest as Armenia 13,1 % and Ukraine 7,1 % are among the top 10 ranked in the world of MPs aged 30 and under .

This contrasts strongly with the global statistics with only 2.8 % of MPs are aged 30 or under, 18.8 % of MPs are aged 40 or under and 32.1 % of MPs are aged 45 or under. 25 % of the global parliaments have no MPs under the age of 30 at all.

I joined a political party and the youth wing when I was 19 moving to the Swedish capital Stockholm after highschool to study at the university. This was actually a bit late because young people in the Nordic countries that engage in politics normally start when they are 13-14 years old. Being active in a political youth wing became my school of democracy. I had never planned to stay in politics, it was for me a meaningful leisure activity trying to change the world and meeting friends that still are my closest allies 30 years later. At 24 I was elected as the President of the youth wing of the party and made a name of myself in the party and the media. We made a difference in politics pushing our party to support new laws as full adoption rights for same-sex couples and we managed to get our party becoming the first party to advocate for a Swedish Nato-membership. Well the latter took 25 years. When I was 27 I got elected to the Swedish parliament, at 34 appointed as a Minister and at 43 I left parliament and politics. In many countries I still would have been considered as a young politician. We need to acknowledge that the average age of a politician in the US senate is 64, in the parliaments in Uruguay 61,2 and in Cambodia 66,5.

So, why are political youth wings essential for better youth representation?

1. School of democracy

There is no better school for learning democracy than through a democratic political youth wing organization. You learn how to debate, understand and respect different opinions, how to organize activities, how democracy works at a big congress and small workshops, how you arrange a political campaign, how to talk to young people about democracy and convince others about ideology and ideas. Some young people that are active in a youth wing stay in politics later becoming elected officials, staff or strategists but most do not. But they get memories for life and learn the basics about democracy.

2. The younger the parliament, the more gender-balanced

Data from the International Parliament Union (IPU) has shown that parliamentary chambers with younger MPs tend to elect more women. And they perform better for example in the 21-30 age group, the ratio of male to female MPs is around 60:40 compared to the ratio among MPs above 45 years old is 76:24. Political youth wings with modern values tend to nominate and push internally for gender-balanced lists in elections. But there is also a fact that even if political youth wings often are the pipeline to power, fewer women than men in parties’ youth wings want to run for office.

3. Bridging the divide between parties and activists

If young people are not feeling welcome, why would they join political parties? There is a deep divide between the activist generations as for example climate related Fridays For Future and established political parties. Parties are frustrated with a young generation and movements that mostly are concentrating on one political issue and on the opposite the young generations are feeling that parties are neither authentic nor listening seriously. At National Democratic Institute (NDI) we developed Bridging the divide: Strengthening Partnerships Between Young People and Political Parties focusing on youth-sensitive party platforms and communication, cooperative and inclusive policymaking and youth-led political party formation and candidacy styles.

‘Bridging the divide’ between young people and political parties inside and outside of the party certainly requires new strategies - both to recognize young people’s legitimate concerns about formal institutions and the different ways they want to engage and for political parties to meet young people where they are. Youth wings can be an important bridge here.

4. Meaningful inclusion is also about power

Parliaments should represent the full population in a country with people from all walks of life. Meaningful inclusion is essential for fair representation and political integrity, but it is also smart for parties that want to be more successful. If young people’s voices are not heard and not represented, policies and laws are not likely to reflect their opinions. Political issues that concern many young people like climate change, unemployment, housing, education, minority rights and gender equality will not get enough attention. Parties need to #SpeakYouthToPower

There is a win-win situation for political parties to support their youth wing organizations. They are the face of the party for younger generations who are the majority of the voters in many countries. They are often more up to date on topics that engage younger populations. They are the tool to recruit more young people to the party.

(Image credit: Unsplash)