What inspires people to engage with politics, campaigning or activism,at a local and national level and at what age does this engagementtake place, compared to current views of young people?

In this mixed method study the motivations of individual’s involvement in politics and campaigning are explored. Through an online survey (249 respondents, aged between 14 and 82), and two focus groups with young people participating in further education key questions were investigated; the nature of participants involvement with politics and campaigning and the key influences that initially prompted them become active. Through the development of this research project the use of social media by politicians and campaign organisations became a significant issue requiring further investigation. The main findings fall into these three categories.

In relation to individuals motivations for engagement the results showed that these can be categorised into seven key themes, which are: 1. to become more involved in party politics or a campaign, usually as a way of increasing knowledge. 2. identifying that a parties’ manifesto aims matches an individual’s personal beliefs. 3. The necessity to be member of a political party after being selected to stand as a candidate for a particular party. 4. An individual’s desire for a change from the current situation and wanting to assist with enabling that change to happen. 5. Being passionate about a specific cause or issue and wanting to actively support that cause. 6. The social aspect that comes from membership of a political party or campaign group, by meeting and interacting with others that hold similar views. 7. The influence of family, either through discussion regarding politics and campaigning growing up or to support a family members with their own campaigning activities. Individuals’ history and previous political or campaign actions stemmed from the seven themes.

The use of social media by politicians, political parties and campaign organisations is increasing, but it is currently not as effective as more traditional forms of campaigning. Young people are more likely to use social media as a way of campaigning or accessing political information that their older counterparts.