57 B2+ | 8. Klasse | READING | Politics and public institutions C – Phoebe If you were basing your assumptions on young people in the UK’s views on politics on voter turnout, you’d be inclined to think that young people don’t care at all about politics. But if you cast your eyes over the crowds that gather at protests or look at some of the key figures behind recent grassroots movements such as Black Lives Matter and the global campaigns for climate change, then you’ll be privy to a different story. The thing is, the figures and the reality don’t match – young people are historically less likely to get down to the polling stations than their parents or grandparents, yet online and in real life, it feels as if they are more in tune with the political landscape than ever before. They’re not disengaged with political issues: they’re disconnected from the system. In many ways, it’s an issue of perception. Politically active young people are often infantilised by their elders and their opinions are dismissed as blind optimism. D – Jackson As I see it, young people in the US know little about American politics beyond the fact that there are two major political parties – the Republican Party and the Democratic Party – and they’re often unaware of the majority of values, beliefs, and histories held by each of the parties, besides the information they’ve learned from older generations. In fact, figures show that more than two thirds of all youth say that their party preferences closely match that of their parents. To me this is just disgraceful. Some, however, do deviate. Over the last decade or so, an ever-increasing number of young people aged 18 to 24 have chosen to identify as ‘independent voters’, meaning they do not affiliate with either of the two main political parties. Unsurprisingly, youth who are unaffiliated, or registered as independents, express the lowest level of trust in parties and are the least engaged in electoral campaigns and presidential elections. Which of the questions 1–7 has a false word spot – a word from the question appearing in a text that isn’t the answer? Which words are the false word spots? 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A believes that ordinary people are underrepresented in government. 0 senses that nationally there is a mood of optimism. 1 considers the strong link between voting behaviour and family loyalty regrettable. 2 believes that politicians ought to take responsibility for making false promises. 3 reckons that young people can’t distinguish between the ideologies of political parties. 4 feels that younger political activists are not taken seriously by the older generation. 5 views the electoral campaigns that have recently been fought as vicious. 6 notices that among young people today, there is a mismatch between voting habits and the support of political movements. 7 According to the blog, this teenager … Key Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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