Voting at 16–Lessons for the Future from the Scottish Referendum
Abstract
The 2014 Referendum on Scottish independence raised many issues about the future of Scotland. It also produced an innovation as regards the electoral process by making 16 years the minimum age of participation. This article examines issues surrounding the voting age and draws on a schools-based study, which shed light on teacher and pupil opinion about this lower than usual threshold for voting. It is also concerned with how schools cover the teaching of politics and prepared students for the Referendum debate within a context of expected neutrality on a highly divisive matter. Some implications of extending the lower voting age for future elections are discussed.
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Schools are important in theory and empirically for young people's political participation.
“Considering the increased importance ascribed to schools in theory (Franklin, 2004) as well as empirically by young people of this and other studies (cf. Schwarzer and Zeglovits, 2013; Hill et al. , 2017)”
From How Young People in Scotland Experience the Right to Vote at 16: Evidence on ‘Votes-at-16’ in Scotland from Qualitative Work with Young People (2021) · cites this paper as Hill et al., 2017
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Huebner, C. (2021) · Parliamentary Affairs · doi:10.1093/pa/gsab017 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Considering the increased importance ascribed to schools in theory (Franklin, 2004) as well as empirically by young people of this and other studies (cf. Schwarzer and Zeglovits, 2013; Hill et al., 2017), it is imperative that the school as a community—and not just specialist civic education—is seen as a key resources…”
BackgroundRibeiro, N., Malafaia, C., & Ferreira, T. (2023) · Education, Citizenship and Social Justice · doi:10.1177/17461979221097072 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“…by studies showing, for instance, that school principals and teachers tend to be against lowering the voting age to 16 (Ferreira et al., 2018; Hill et al., 2017), a viewpoint which is perhaps underpinned by the idea that young people are still under construction as citizens and are not yet…”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Hill, M., Lockyer, A., Head, G., & MacDonald, C. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hill, Malcolm
- ORCID
- Head, George
- Venue
- Scottish Affairs
- Publisher
- Edinburgh University Press
- Published
- 2017-02
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-68
- ISSN
- 0966-0356 (ISSN-L)
- 2053-888X
- OpenAlex
- W2581076527
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 5.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Scottish Affairs (publishedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Education › Citizenship Education and Democracy
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Youth, Politics, and Society
- Keywords
- voting age, 16-year-olds, Scottish independence referendum 2014, electoral reform, political education, teacher attitudes, student attitudes, neutrality in education, youth political participation
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