What Is Youth Political Participation? Literature Review on Youth Political Participation and Political Attitudes

Abstract

Looking at political participation behavior of young adults in contemporary Europe, this paper provides the reader with a map of different terminologies and logics that are used to discuss youth political participation. The existing literature is examined through the lens of five guiding questions: what defines youth political participation? How does youth political participation differ from adult political participation? How do young adults develop political attitudes? How does youth political participation differ across Europe? What methods are being used to analyze youth political participation? For those researching youth political participation for the first time, this paper offers a useful overview of the topic. At the same time, it gives researchers who are already well-informed the opportunity to reflect on the current state of research in this field. Finally, this paper indicates where future research is needed.

Understanding youths’ needs for digital societal participation: towards an inclusive Virtual Council

“…Weiss 2020). Moreover, political participation definitions vary between researchers, adults, and youths, as a unifying consensus of what is political is missing (Weiss 2020).…”

“…Instead of supporting the participation of individuals through eParticipation services, more emphasis should be given to how the young people's existing social networks could complement digital societal participation (Campbell 2013). Additionally, the needs connect to the ambiguity of societal and political participation identified by for example, Weiss (2020) as the topics need to be personally interesting. Not all the activities that the youths experience as meaningful and that may have societal implications, are regarded as societal participation (Meriläinen and Piispa 2020).…”

“How Dare You!”—The Influence of Fridays for Future on the Political Attitudes of Young Adults

“…For instance, the so-called lifecycle effect states an increasing willingness for political participation up to middle age and a subsequent decline in political participation, resulting in low participation scores among the youth and the elderly (Jennings, 1979). However, while former studies argued that youth are less politically interested and active in general (Dahl et al, 2017), research has since clarified and corrected this observation: Young adults use institutionalized forms of participation less, such as voting or party membership, and rely instead on noninstitutionalized forms of political participation, such as boycotts or online discussions (Quintelier, 2007;Weiss, 2020). Since non-institutionalized forms of political participation are often not covered in studies, young adults are frequently considered as being less politically involved.…”

“…This would mean that participation in demonstrations has no significant effect when controlling for people's early life experiences, such as those in school. In democratic societies, schools are core socialization institutions in addition to, for example, family and friends (Miklikowska and Hurme, 2011;Weiss, 2020); they can promote political trust, understanding of democracy, and the willingness to participate politically, both in institutionalized and non-institutionalized forms (Torney-Purta, 2002;Resh and Sabbagh, 2014;Özdemir et al, 2016). Schools have a specific teaching mission in explaining democratic structures and processes and which rights and obligations single citizens have (Flanagan et al, 2007;Lenzi et al, 2014).…”

Youth, Institutional Trust, and Democratic Backsliding

“…Second, younger citizenry could undermine even consolidated democracies by getting increasingly attracted to political extremes and growing more likely to vote for anti-system parties, on both the left and the right (Mounk, 2018). 6 Concentrating on the young became important in studies of radical political attitudes even before 1968 and continues nowadays (Weiss, 2020). Third, it is important to compare the young with the older cohorts: looking at the young cohort's attitudes in relative terms, with attitudes of the old cohort as the reference, Foa and Mounk interpret the gap in the political attitudes and behavior of youth and the old in terms of cohort effects, since it is important when, in what period, young people were born.…”