Voting rights and youth participation. International standards and human rights law in Italy, Austria and the UK

Participation is one of the core elements of a democratic system. It is possible to identify two approaches to participation in democracy: direct democracy with people involved directly in the decisions and representative democracy where the decisions are taken from representatives elected by the people. Young people, between 16- and 24-year-olds, are often excluded from these formal decision-making processes, unable to enjoy right to vote and to stand for elections, and this create a distance between the political class and the young generations. Nonetheless they claim more space and more decision-making power. The research question comprises two aspects: firstly, whether in international legal standards and international human rights law young people have a right to participate in elections; and secondly how States deal with youth participation and which policies they adopt in this sense. After having outlined the historical development of direct and representative democracy, their contemporary forms and the evolution of both passive and active suffrage, the current international standards and human rights law are considered in order to understand whether young people have such right. Meaningful youth participation includes several aspects, and policies, aimed to increase such engagement, need to address different obstacles which young people can face. States, indeed, adopt different type of policies and tools, depending on the form of government and their own contextual characteristics. A brief analysis of three case studies, Italy, Austria and the UK, helps to answer the corollary research question. International human rights law and international standards do not imply a full right to participation for young people. Art. 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights give a right to participation in public affairs to all citizens, leaving a wide margin of appreciation to States. Art. 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states the right to be heard of children in any decision that affects their life, in accordance with their age and maturity. Good practices and legal standards collected by international organization allow States to limit right to vote and to stand in elections on the basis of age. Nonetheless, international and regional organizations through recommendations, resolutions and initiatives are pushing for the involvement of youth in decision-making processes at all levels. There is a trend in States to adopt some policies to increase participation of young people. From the three case-studies, two are the major instruments that States prefer: on one side, lowering voting and eligibility age, and on the other, the establishment of youth councils and/or Parliaments that cooperate with national and/or local institutions in decision-making processes. Much more need to be done, in particular for what concern young members of Parliament, in order to have more representatives in formal institutions. All these policies are not sufficient on their own: civic and voter education can increase awareness of democratic and electoral processes and foster trust in democracy.