Abstract

This article seeks to develop a preliminary analysis of how neo-liberal thought and policies
have impacted on youth political engagement in the UK, specifically by attempting to understand how
macro-economic and other public policies can influence the individual psychology of citizens and their
subsequent behaviour. The article sets out a clear definition and explanation of neo-liberalism and
summarises six key neo-liberal impacts particularly pertinent to political engagement: marketisation
and the tension this brings with democratic norms; responsibilisation narratives; increased inequality;
the changing character of the state through privatisation and deregulation; the preference among
policy-makers for ‘expert rule’; and repression of labour. It argues that the main psychological effects
that result, and which underpin and define the personal experience of neo-liberal policy, are declines
in political efficacy and increases in individualism, the ramifications of which for political engagement
are discussed.