Various studies suggest that while institutionalised and electoral forms of political participation are in decline in Western societies, non‐institutionalised forms of participation (like demonstrating, political consumerism or signing petitions) are on the rise. However, this expansion of the political action repertoire of citizens also entails the question of equal participation opportunities. It can be argued that contemporary ideals of democratic participation assume an equal representation of citizens' interests. In this article we analyse the equality of participation patterns using comparative data from the 2004 ISSP survey. Our results suggest that non‐institutionalised forms of participation increase patterns of inequality due to education but strongly reduce or even reverse gender and age inequalities. As such, both institutionalised and non‐institutionalised forms of participation have specific (dis)advantages from the perspective of preserving equal access to democratic decision‐making procedures.

People often complain about the supposed laziness and ineptitude of the younger generation, remonstrating their lack of respect for the traditions and seniority of the older population. These reactions are not new, however, as Plato voiced similar concerns about the young people of his time:The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers. 1 We also find a similar reaction among political researchers, whenever they conclude that young people are not sufficiently engaged in politics. 2 Such a conclusion is not unfounded: in almost every election young people are the least likely to vote, and these participation rates are continuously declining; 3 the youth membership of political parties is dropping; 4 young people are less concerned with politics, less politically knowledgeable, do not participate in social or political activities, are more apathetic, and have low levels of political interest, etc. 5 For almost every activity or attitude, young people have the lowest score. Conventional 'wisdom' dictates that young people are 'ignorant', 'apathetic', 'selfish', 'indifferent', 'alienated', 'disaffected' and 'disinterested' when it comes to politics. 6 Negative media discourses also add to these views. 7 Others argue that young people cannot participate politically until they become eligible voters. 8 Either way, it appears that young people and political participation present an unlikely and perhaps incompatible combination.But are young people doing such a bad job? Do they really have such low levels of involvement? In the literature, we find three reasons for these images and the perceived political participation gap between younger and older people. Firstly, due to the lifecycle and generational effects, young people have fewer reasons to participate: they do not have a house, stable residence, children . . . factors which make people more likely to engage in political participation. Secondly, the attractiveness of new forms of participation has caused younger people to divert from traditional forms of political participation as practised by the older generation, like voting or political party membership. Rather, young people prefer

Most research finds that voluntary engagement leads to more political participation. However, it is not entirely clear which type of organization encourages political participation and what skills are required. There is also some discussion about whether multiple memberships promote political participation. In this article, I use the Belgian Youth Survey ( n = 6,330) in investigating the effect that type of organization, the time spent in organizations, the number of memberships and skills-related activities has on political participation. My findings suggest that voluntary organizations are powerful political socialization agents leading to young people engaging in politics. Young people who are members of several organizations are more active in politics, while spending a greater amount of time in one organization does not increase level of political participation. Cultural, deliberative and help organizations are more successful than expressive, religious—ethnic and youth groups in fostering political engagement. Finally, organizations that allow young people to take up a leadership role, or to organize activities, encourage participation in political activities.

The relationship between political participation and political attitudes is at the heart of any discussion about fostering democratic engagement. However, many authors simply presume that political attitudes reinforce political behaviour. Using a three-wave panel data set with more than 3,000 adolescents, we show that political attitudes do not necessarily precede behaviour. On the contrary, focusing on the relationships between five political attitudes and two variants of political participation, our findings indicate that it is much more likely that political participation strengthens political attitudes than that attitudes trigger participation.This does not mean that attitudes are irrelevant for behaviour, but the reverse impact is much stronger. More specifically, we find that the effects of being politically engaged on political interest, efficacy, confidence and norms of citizenship are clearly stronger than the effects of these attitudes on participation.