young people are apathetic to politics (or so the media says), and that's the reason politicians don't listen to us, because there's nothing to listen to.
answer your first question, yes, i think young people (at least most of those around me) doesn't care about politics at all. it's not a topic of conversation i hear discussed at school, quite frankly, most of them wouldn't care if they have a vote or not.
this may partially due to our education system. at all state schools, no advocacy is allowed, a friend and i wanted to start a group discussing some human rights issues (to look good for scholarship) and it was knocked down, because we're not allowed to do anything. apparently even if someone got home and wrote a letter to a politician as a result of our discussion at school, the school will be liable? (or so says the principal)
on a side note, an exoday was allowed where students got up stage and shouted "god loves you" and stuff like that... so preaching christianity is ok, but raising awareness of human rights issues around the world is not.