Young people and politics in Britain

Politicians and the media claim that young people are apathetic towards politics, and the turnout among young voters appears to confirm this. But are young people really not interested in politics — or are they simply disenchanted with aspects of the political process

Compulsory voting may reinforce the resentment young people feel toward the political class

With young people much less likely to vote than older generations, it has been proposed the UK follow other countries such as Belgium and Australia by introducing compulsory voting, with IPPR suggesting only first-time voters should be forced to participate. Matt Henn and Nick Foard consider the merits of this proposal using data from a recent survey of voting intentions, concluding it would risk increasing the disconnect between young people and democracy. This post is part of our series on youth participation

Social differentiation in young people's political participation: the impact of social and educational factors on youth political engagement in Britain

Over the course of the last decade, policy makers in Britain have become increasingly concerned about the apparent and persisting withdrawal by young people from the formal political process. In this article, the authors consider the results from a representative online national survey of 1025 British 18-year-olds conducted in 2011, including both those who voted at the 2010 General Election and those who did not. The findings reveal that young people do profess a commitment to the political process, although they consider that there are relatively few opportunities available for them to intervene effectively in formal political life. Our study also indicates that there is no uniform youth orientation to politics, and the data reveal that this generation's engagement with formal politics is complex and nuanced. Social class and educational history both appear to have a crucial bearing on political engagement, while views also differ according to ethnicity and - to a lesser extent - gender. The authors also consider the findings from 14 online focus groups with 86 young people who opted not to vote at the 2010 General Election. These findings enable us to consider what influenced these young people's patterns of (dis)engagement with politics

Young people, political participation and trust in Britain

Young people in Britain are often characterised as disconnected from the formal political process and from democratic institutions. Certainly their rate of abstention in general election contests over the last decade has led to concerns amongst the political classes that they have a disaffection from politics that is deeply entrenched and more so than was the case with previous youth generations, and may in the future become habit-forming. In this article, we consider the results from an online national survey of 1,025 British 18 year olds conducted in 2011, and compare these with the results from a similar study conducted by one of the authors in 2002. In doing so, our aim is to assess the extent to which young people's levels of political engagement have changed over the course of the intervening years, and if so, how they have changed. The results from this comparison indicate that, contrary to popular wisdom, today's generation of young people are interested in political affairs, and they are keen to play a more active role in the political process. However, their recent experience of their first general election in 2010 has left them feeling frustrated. Indeed, our study has revealed a considerable aversion to formal, professional politics which is as deep today as it was for the predecessor 2002 youth cohort

Fluid dynamics video of domains with spiral dislocations formed in the wake of an enslaved phase-separation front

Enslaved phase-separation fronts that move with a speed just smaller than that of a free front will leave in their wake a morphology of alternating domains that are roughly aligned with the front. However, these alternating domains will typically not be in phase initially. Instead there are defects. Here we present novel phase-separation morphologies that are formed in such systems where the defects are reminiscent of spiral dislocations in crystal growth.Comment: 1 pag

Changing the Ways Bedside Nursing Staff Think About ‘All Things Urinary Catheters

The purpose of this project was to bring attention to the importance of the bedside nursing staff’s back to the basics approach to nurse-led interventions to help reduce the number of increasing hospital-acquired infections (HAI), specifically catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). The motivation to address this problem was due to the bedside nursing staff under-utilizing best practice interventions to prevent insertions and re-insertions of urinary catheters. A high number of urinary catheter insertions and re-insertions increases the risk of a CAUTI. Evidence-based interventions should be reinforced and utilized by bedside nursing staff to prevent insertions and re-insertions. Evidence-based nurse-led practices such as bladder scanning (to assess urinary bladder volumes), encouraging fluids by mouth or intravenous (if applicable), and mobilizing the patient frequently and as soon as possible post-surgery (Simsek & Sureyya, 2017). Methods used to address this quality improvement project are education via poster board presentation and pre and post-test questionnaires to evaluate the knowledge level of the bedside nursing staff. Nursing staff includes registered nurses (RN), licensed practical nurses (LPN), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs). The nursing staff plays an integral part in the care, maintenance, and reduction of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Education of best practices and supportive measures to decrease catheter-associated insertions and re-insertions to reduce CAUTI rates were discussed. Reinforcing and re-educating on evidence-based nurse-led practices will continue to be the most critical interventions to improve patient outcomes. (Parker et al., 2017)