{"id":59787,"date":"2020-10-16T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T19:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=59787"},"modified":"2020-10-16T09:07:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T22:07:42","slug":"ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/","title":{"rendered":"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

As New Zealanders head to the polls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party are in a good position to be able to form government in their own right after three years in a coalition with New Zealand First. A substantial part of Labour\u2019s support is likely to come from young<\/a> people<\/a>. Before the last election<\/a> in 2017, 52% of those aged 18\u201334 voted or intended to vote for Labour and 47% of 25\u201334-year-olds also supported the party.<\/p>\n

The power of the \u2018youth vote\u2019 is frequently discussed, but, more often than not, it is also underestimated. There\u2019s a growing number of young voters enrolled around the world. In Australia, young voters rushed to enrol to vote in the same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017. That pushed Australia\u2019s enrolment rate<\/a> at the 2019 election to a historic high of 96.8%. In the US<\/a>, people under the age of 40 comprise almost 40% of eligible voters. In the UK<\/a>, before the 2019 election, more than 1.5 million people under the age of 34 had enrolled to vote, up from 1.2 million prior to the 2017 election.<\/p>\n

Despite this, youth voter turnout often falls short of expectations. Young people no doubt care about political issues, but there\u2019s a strong sense of disillusionment with, and disengagement from, traditional politics and traditional politicians who seem unconcerned with the issues young people care most about. This, along with a perception that their votes won\u2019t make a difference, seems to limit the number of young voters who show up on election day.<\/p>\n

But this doesn\u2019t appear to be entirely the case in New Zealand. The Labour government led by Ardern seems to have been more successful in appealing to young people and encouraging them to participate in the electoral process in greater numbers.<\/p>\n

When Ardern assumed the leadership of the Labour Party in 2017 at age 37, just two months before becoming New Zealand\u2019s youngest prime minister in 150 years, the country was gripped by \u2018Jacindamania\u2019. Young people in particular seemed inspired by Ardern, who adopted an \u2018unrelentingly positive<\/a>\u2019 campaign style, coupled with a platform including a plan to implement three years of free tertiary education<\/a> by 2024. This, as well as a perception that she communicated with<\/em> young people, rather than just talked about<\/em> them, resulted in an increase in voter turnout<\/a> among New Zealanders aged 18 to 29, a 6.5%<\/a> jump from the 2014 election.<\/p>\n

The emergence of a young, female political leader has done a lot to reinvigorate New Zealand\u2019s domestic politics. Ardern has recast the mould of what it means to be a politician. She has employed empathy and effective communication to provide the leadership necessary to bring her country through the Christchurch terror attack and the Covid-19 pandemic. Her ability to communicate in a relatable manner, particularly via social media during the pandemic and throughout the election campaign, has driven engagement with her messages and motivated \u2018perceptions of authenticity and expertise<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

But Ardern\u2019s appeal for young people goes beyond the mere fact of her being young, female and an effective communicator. Despite her history as a career politician<\/a>, she has committed to doing politics and implementing policies differently.<\/p>\n

In stark contrast to the strongman politics on display in other parts of the world, Ardern has demonstrated an ability to be both empathetic and decisive<\/a> in delivering effective leadership in New Zealand\u2019s Covid-19 response<\/a>. Despite stringent lockdown measures and the heavy impact of the pandemic on young people\u2014 in terms of both employment<\/a> and mental health<\/a>\u2014Ardern\u2019s leadership has been viewed as successfully uniting the country and has garnered global recognition. Her encouragement of New Zealand\u2019s \u2018team of five million<\/a>\u2019 to accept tough lockdowns and her willingness to take a pay cut<\/a> herself as others have been hard hit, stands out among global responses to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Ardern\u2019s \u2018wellbeing budget<\/a>\u2019 is another good example of how Labour has done things differently, reconceptualising how to measure the economic success of the country and focusing on improving people\u2019s quality of life over the long term. While it maintains elements like debt and budget targets, the wellbeing budget aims to provide greater consideration of factors beyond<\/a> GDP growth, to include measures for supporting sustainable and low-emissions growth, providing skills and opportunities to New Zealanders, and supporting mental health.<\/p>\n

This long-term and forward-looking policy agenda no doubt resonates with young voters concerned with inequality and their economic future. New Zealand\u2019s 2020 budget<\/a> focuses on job creation, with initiatives targeted at young people such as a trades and apprenticeship package, support for employment services and a new hardship fund for students.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s climate policies<\/a> also reflect the concerns of young people and the priority they place on action to tackle climate change. A zero-emissions target, as well as a commitment to apply a \u2018climate change lens<\/a>\u2019 to all government decisions, makes clear that the government understands that climate change is a critical issue with wide-ranging effects, and that it\u2019s serious about taking action.<\/p>\n

Those looking for an effective model for promoting youth voter engagement could learn much from New Zealand\u2019s example. Refreshing and non-traditional politicians have an advantage, but employing effective communication strategies and enacting policies that are responsive to the needs and concerns of young people are key. Young people want to see that their vote matters and that it can lead to tangible change that benefits them and the society they live in.<\/p>\n

While Ardern has provided a new face and a new approach to New Zealand politics, hard work will be needed to advance Labour\u2019s policy agenda should the party win another term. The Covid-19-induced recession will no doubt pose a challenge to delivering on Ardern\u2019s and Labour\u2019s promises of \u2018transformational change\u2019 for New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As New Zealanders head to the polls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party are in a good position to be able to form government in their own right after three years in a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1064,"featured_media":59789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2885],"class_list":["post-59787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-indo-pacific-election-pulse-2020"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArdern shows the way in engaging with young voters | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As New Zealanders head to the polls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party are in a good position to be able to form government in their own right after three years in a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-15T19:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-15T22:07:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1053095926.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexandra Pascoe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexandra Pascoe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1053095926.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1053095926.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 25: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern takes a selfie with children during a 'thank you' picnic for young people at Premier House on October 25, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Children Tracey Martin are jointly leading the development of the Government's first Child Wellbeing Strategy. The Strategy will set out the actions the Government intends to take to improve the well-being of all New Zealand children, and will be published in 2019. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/\",\"name\":\"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-15T19:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-15T22:07:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/095c7b2a54f4011b436045cd4984a786\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/095c7b2a54f4011b436045cd4984a786\",\"name\":\"Alexandra Pascoe\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4f96528abe38f1c8df40c8db1e425c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4f96528abe38f1c8df40c8db1e425c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alexandra Pascoe\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/alexandra-pascoe\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters | The Strategist","og_description":"As New Zealanders head to the polls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party are in a good position to be able to form government in their own right after three years in a ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-10-15T19:00:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-15T22:07:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1053095926.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alexandra Pascoe","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alexandra Pascoe","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1053095926.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1053095926.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 25: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern takes a selfie with children during a 'thank you' picnic for young people at Premier House on October 25, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Children Tracey Martin are jointly leading the development of the Government's first Child Wellbeing Strategy. The Strategy will set out the actions the Government intends to take to improve the well-being of all New Zealand children, and will be published in 2019. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/","name":"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-10-15T19:00:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-15T22:07:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/095c7b2a54f4011b436045cd4984a786"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ardern-shows-the-way-in-engaging-with-young-voters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ardern shows the way in engaging with young voters"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/095c7b2a54f4011b436045cd4984a786","name":"Alexandra Pascoe","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4f96528abe38f1c8df40c8db1e425c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4f96528abe38f1c8df40c8db1e425c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alexandra Pascoe"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/alexandra-pascoe\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1064"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59787"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59793,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59787\/revisions\/59793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}