72 \ Global Youth Development Index and Report 2016 young people have little knowledge of and interest in politics; they find politics boring and irrelevant to their lives.29 The ‘maturation’ thesis maintains that low levels of involvement are a normal feature of the youth phase and that young people are likely to show greater involvement as they grow older.30 In a similar vein, others have argued that protracted youth transitions also partially explain why young people are not participating in formal modes.31 The evidence to support these theses, however, is weak. Explanations that lay more emphasis on the wider political and economic context cite a lack of political education or awareness, structural and generational shifts, and scepticism about traditional political processes and institutions as some of the factors contributing to youth disengagement in formal politics. Some commentators have argued that young people are not well informed about citizenship, political processes and democracy. This perhaps holds especially true in developing countries where lack of access to information and knowledge can dampen youth participation.32 There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that young people want to participate in politics but find the existing political culture, institutions and mechanisms ineffective or unwelcoming. Young people are disenchanted with formal politics because it is unresponsive to their needs and interests.33 Young people’s relative lack of interest in the formal political process partly reflects their scepticism about the ability or will of governments and politicians to create a supportive environment for young people. There is also a widespread perception among the young that elected politicians tend to pay more attention to older citizens, who are more influential and more likely to vote.34 In Tanzania, a study found that young people’s willingness to participate in formal political processes was linked directly to the extent to which they believed their vote would make a difference.35 Such views are common in other countries, too.36 In many Sub-Saharan African and Asian countries, young citizens’ perception that they are powerless to influence the outcome of elections affects their voting behaviour.37 The UN’s 2014 MyWorld survey, with over 70 per cent of respondents aged under 30, rated ‘an honest and responsive government’ as fourth most important after education, healthcare and jobs, indicating the strong desire of the young for good governance in their countries. The body of evidence makes it clear that current political institutions and mechanisms are failing to match the aspirations and expectations of young people. Declining youth participation in formal politics has also been linked to broader trends. In Europe, trade unions used to have an important role in the political socialisation of the young; older colleagues would introduce new workers to political debate on the factory floor. Structural and irreversible changes in the labour market, especially the decline and demise of some labour-intensive industries, technological disruption and growing insecurity in the world of work, have led to young people’s identities becoming more atomised as they find it harder to make common cause with others.38 In Pakistan, for instance, student unions used to play a very influential role in national politics. With the abolishment of all student unions in the country three decades ago, the enthusiasm of young people in the country to participate in politics through institutionalised mechanisms has correspondingly waned.39 According to some analysts, traditional modes of participation and collective action hold little appeal for a generation whose creed is individualism and who subscribe to post-materialist values such as identity-based politics, human rights and environmental protection.40 Recent youthled protests such as the Occupy movement, nevertheless, demonstrate a complex interdependence between materialist factors and post-materialist ideas in youth mobilisation.41 It has also been suggested that young people are taking more of a ‘project-oriented’ approach to politics, rejecting wholesale affiliation with traditional political parties and instead choosing to get involved in political debate when they are interested in individual issues.42 3.4  Informal youth participation is on the rise Young people may be losing interest in traditional political processes and institutions but they retain a keen interest in community and political affairs.43 Young people’s involvement in community affairs and informal politics has increased significantly over the past five years. Participation for young people today increasingly involves experimenting with nontraditional activities including volunteering, blogging, protests and consumer activism, particularly when an issue close to their hearts is at stake. Youth mobilisation has been critical to a host of anti-government protests across the world. In countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,