BBC Learnings · Section 10

Do our political views change as we get older

Sam, do you remember the first time you voted? No, I don't, but I remember

Level: B1 · 121 sentences

Transcript

1. Sam, do you remember the first time you voted?
2. No, I don't, but I remember
3. being very keen to do it.
4. It would have been the first election after my 18th birthday.
5. So over the many, many, many years since then...
6. Not so much with the many's, if you don't mind, Neil.
7. OK. In the very, very few years since then...
8. Yeah, that's more like it.
9. In the years since then, have your political views changed very much?
10. I think my political views are a lot...
11. better informed now.
12. I think the decisions I make are based
13. on a better understanding of the political situation,
14. but I still generally agree with the same things
15. I did when I was younger, I think.
16. There is a belief that as we
17. get older we become more right-wing
18. in our political views and opinions.
19. Is this true, and if so, why?
20. We'll be finding out a little bit
21. more about this, but first a question.
22. What was the first UK general election in which 18-year-olds could vote?
23. Was it a 1929, b 1950 or c 1970?
24. So what do you reckon then, Sam?
25. Well, they were all before my time.
26. I'm going to say 1950. That sounds about right.
27. It was the decade in which teenagers were invented after all.
28. OK. Well, I will reveal the answer later in the programme.
29. James Tilly is a professor of politics at the University of Oxford.
30. He appeared recently on BBC Radio 4's programme Analysis.
31. and was asked why, if it is true,
32. do we become more right-wing as we get older?
33. What does he think?
34. The question of whether age affects
35. our political views is a tricky one.
36. I think probably the most plausible explanation
37. is that people just generally become a bit
38. more resistant to change as they get older
39. and I think also that they
40. tend to perhaps become less idealistic.
41. So, what reasons does he give?
42. Well, he talks about what he
43. thinks are the most plausible explanations.
44. Plausible is an adjective, which means something is believable.
45. It's reasonable and it makes sense.
46. And what are the plausible explanations?
47. Well, he says that generally, as we get older,
48. we like to have more stability in our lives.
49. We don't like change.
50. In fact, we're resistant to change.
51. That means we're against change.
52. When we are younger, we might like the idea of revolution.
53. We might be very idealistic.
54. This means, for example,
55. we might think that we can and should change
56. the world to make things better.
57. This would cause big changes in the world
58. which, when we are older and more settled in our lives,
59. do not seem like such a good idea.
60. Let's listen again.
61. The question of whether age affects
62. our political views is a tricky one.
63. I think probably the most plausible explanation
64. is that people just generally become a bit
65. more resistant to change as they get older
66. and I think also that they
67. tend to perhaps become less idealistic.
68. Professor Tilley goes on to explain
69. more about why being resistant to change might lead
70. people to support more right-wing policies.
71. So if parties on the right represent a platform
72. which is perhaps more favourable to the status quo,
73. it's perhaps more about pragmatism than it is about idealism,
74. then that might be more attractive to older people than younger people.
75. So what is seen as the appeal of moving to the right?
76. Political parties have a particular set of policies.
77. This is sometimes known as their platform.
78. Professor Tilley says that if their platforms support the status quo,
79. they might be more attractive to older people.
80. The status quo is a Latin phrase we use
81. in English to refer to the situation as it is now.
82. That is, one that is not going to change.
83. Traditionally, it's parties of the centre-right
84. that seem to be more supportive.
85. of the status quo.
86. So, as we get older, he says our political views
87. are less about idealism and more about pragmatism.
88. Pragmatism is being practical and realistic about what can be achieved
89. and how it can be achieved.
90. But of course this doesn't apply to everyone
91. and just because people seem to move
92. more to the right as they get older
93. doesn't mean that they completely change their politics.
94. Let's hear Professor Tilley again.
95. So if parties on the right represent a platform
96. which is perhaps more favourable to the status quo,
97. it's perhaps more about pragmatism than it is about idealism,
98. then that might be more attractive to older people than younger people.
99. Right, let's get the answer to our question.
100. What was the first UK general election in which 18-year-olds could vote?
101. Was it A, 1929, B, 1950 or C, 1970?
102. Sam, what did you say?
103. I thought it was 1950.
104. Well, you're wrong, I'm afraid. The correct answer is 1970.
105. 18-year-olds have been allowed to vote in the UK since 1969
106. and the first general election after that was in 1970,
107. so a bit later than you thought, Sam.
108. But congratulations to anyone who did get that right.
109. OK, let's remind ourselves of our vocabulary.
110. Yes, first we had plausible, an adjective that means believable or possible.
111. Being resistant to something means you are against it
112. and don't want it to happen.
113. If you're idealistic, you have a clear
114. and simple moral view of how things should be.
115. This contrasts with one of our other words, pragmatism.
116. This noun is the idea of being realistic
117. and practical about what can be achieved.
118. A platform can describe the policies
119. and ideas of a political party
120. or politician and the status quo
121. is the unchanging situation as it is now.