Are youth quotas a form of Ageism?

Abstract

Youth quotas are a powerful instrument that could ensure the participation of a minimum number of people under a certain age on various political stages. However, even though youth participation is a legitimate political aim, it should be asked whether youth quotas as an instrument are compatible with democratic values. This article will show that we have good reasons to believe that youth quotas are an ageist instrument inasmuch as they discriminate against the elderly. It will be argued that quotas in general are structurally similar to discrimination and that this can also be said of youth quotas and ageism in particular. This constitutes a necessary condition for regarding youth quotas as an ageist instrument. Furthermore, several moral justifications for youth quotas will be examined and rejected, so that two necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for regarding youth quotas as ageist are satisfied. Youth quotas should, therefore, not be used as a political instrument to improve youth participation. Although they might be used in order to achieve a democratic end, they would be undemocratic in themselves, which is why other ways to improve youth participation should be given priority.