Politics and government can be hard to grasp. We wanted to make it easier to understand. And spend an afternoon with cupcakes.

Everyone looks forward to their 18th birthday. It’s a golden age when you get legal rights you didn’t have before. You can binge, you can go crazy, and you can let loose — on politics.

Yes. 18 is when you can vote.  ?

18 is when you can vote.

But this opportunity needs to be done responsibly. With politics, it can be hard to get started and to know what you’re doing. But the thing is, everyone starts somewhere. Everyone starts at square one (even Coldplay).

You should care because your world is shaped by politics and government. Look at school: since 2012, you now legally have to be in some form of education until you are 18 ?.The things you care about are connected to politics because without Data Protection Laws (?), no one can access your 500 non-Instagram standard selfies. Not even the FBI (reference San Bernardino). In a democracy, you can vote. That means, you have power. Like Iron Man. Or Beyoncé. A vote = influence ?.

So, if you’re going to learn, you’ve got to know about some of the major players in government. There are a lot of terms and words that get thrown around, which makes it hard to figure stuff out. But, we can start you off with this guide and an introduction to different types of governments.

And because this topic can be boring and make you hungry. We decided to sweeten it up with cake.

This is just a start to types of government, but you now have some building blocks to start you off on your understanding into the world of politics.

This piece of content was brought to you by Rose White and Grace Shutti.

Be sure to register to vote in the Mayoral election on 5th May and the EU referendum on 23rd June. If you want to know more, check out the rest of our Digestible Politics series.

Politics make for hungry work so grab a healthy bite at Alive ‘N’ Kicking’s healthy food programme

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About the author

Rose White

Rose is an MA Journalism student at UWE Bristol. She has a background in writing and enjoys covering a range of topics including current affairs, arts, politics, travel, international issues, music, design, and technology--to name a few. Rose is particularly interested in longform journalism, from Buzzfeed investigations to The Atlantic magazine. She also enjoys reading contemporary fiction and YA fiction.