Young People’s Human Rights and The Politics of Voting Age is the first book to address in-depth the topic of voting age eligibility as a universal fundamental human rights issue rather than an internal, discretionary State policy matter. International perspectives on the issue of voting age eligibility are examined as are the legal, historical, philosophical and sociological dimensions of the legislated age-based bar to the vote. The book examines examples of movements for the youth vote at 16. Also addressed is the failure of high profile human rights organizations and institutions to endorse the vote at age 16 and the implications for democratic values of the denial of the youth vote in most Western and non-Western States. The book would be extremely valuable for instructional purposes as one of the primary texts in undergraduate or graduate courses on children’s human rights, political psychology, sociology, political science, sociology of law and as a supplementary text for courses on human rights or constitutional law. It would be of great interest also to members of the general public concerned with children and youth human rights issues.

Sonja C. Grover, Ph.D., is a Professor with Lakehead University. She has authored over 80 refereed articles and has focused on the topic of human rights/children’s rights publishing in leading international human rights and law journals. She has contributed two book chapters for a 2007 edited volume on children's rights in Canada and presented papers at various international conferences on the topic of human rights and vulnerable groups including at UNESCO. Dr. Grover is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Human Rights. She is also the single author of several books in the human rights field including: Children's Human Rights: Challenging Global Barriers to the Child Liberation Movement (Sandstone Academic Press, 2007); The Child’s Right to Legal Standing (Lexis Nexis, 2008), Prosecuting International Crimes and Human Rights Abuses Committed Against Children: Leading International Court Cases (Springer, 2010) and The European Court of Human Rights as a Pathway to Impunity for International Crimes (Springer, 2010).

Part I Alternative Philosophical Perspectives on the Origin and Nature of Human Rights.- Part II Examples of Contextual Factors in the Youth Struggle for the Vote.- Part III The Human Rights Imperative and Minimum Voting Age.- Part IV: Austria and the Vote at 16.- Part V The U.K. Example of Resistance to the Vote at 16: The U.K. Electoral Commissions and Social Scientists.- Part VI: The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Does it Really Make Age Discrimination in the Vote Against Under 18s Constitutional? The Broader Lessons.- Part VII The Youth Vote as a Human Right and Resistance from High Profile International and National Human Rights Gatekeepers.- Part VIII Unconstitutional Age-Based Discrimination in the Vote Applied on Account of Young Age.- Part IX Minors' Perspectives on Their Citizenship Status.- Part X Two Different Standards for Enfranchisement: A 'Rights Standard' for Adults and a Supposed 'Competency Qualification Standard' for Minors.- Part XI: Conclusion.- Reference.