That still leaves a worryingly large minority of Gen Z who seem to be supporting an extreme form of autocratic government. We tested that view further by asking those who agreed whether that meant they wanted no control or checks on the leader from MPs in parliament and no national elections at all. When these implications are spelled out, around half say no, actually, we would like some control and elections.
When you work it all through, only 6% of Gen Z really support a dictatorship, in any recognised sense of the term. The problem is not a whole generation of autocratic young people, but a complex question answered quickly in online polls and hugely over-interpreted in its reporting.
And the fact that this interpretation was picked up so widely really is a problem, in at least three ways.
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First, it adds to sense of generational division, and particularly our willingness to believe that the current generation of young are the worst ever. It’s a deep human trait for older people to think ill of the young, and it’s been supercharged for us today by social media and media environments where generational labels have become helpful shorthand for spreading stereotypes and division.
Second, there is a risk that this type of attention-grabbing discussion encourages a sense that this is in fact the norm among the generation themselves. A lot of media coverage of one poll doesn’t mean the line it pushes will become immediately true among that generation, but we know perceptions of what the norm is for our group can have powerful effects on our own views and behaviours.
If we have concerns about Gen Z’s connection to liberal democracy, we should be extra careful not to spread an exaggerated negative view.
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Which leads to the third problem – that the noise around this distracts us from real and serious issues with Gen Z’s engagement with UK political systems and institutions. We risk labelling a whole generation as “authoritarian” when the real problem is a lack of confidence in the delivery of democratic institutions and systems.
Our analysis of the World Values Survey, a major academic study that has tracked attitudes to democracy since 1981, shows that our younger generation’s problem is not with the principle of democracy, but its delivery. Gen Z are the least likely to think we even currently live in a democracy, which is perhaps understandable when so many policy decisions – from pensions and housing to support for the costs of education and childcare – have favoured older generations.
We face a serious challenge convincing Gen Z that democracy and our political institutions can work for them – but exaggerating their desire to rip it all up doesn’t increase the sense of urgency, it just adds to the drama of generational division and risks giving a false sense of momentum to the decline of democracy. We have enough to worry about without that.
Professor Bobby Duffy is the director of The Policy Institute at King’s College London.
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