Youth political participation in the EU: evidence from a cross-national analysis
Youth political participation in the EU: evidence from a cross-national analysis
Youth political disengagement continues to be a major issue facing contemporary democracies that needs to be better understood. There is an existing literature on what determines youth participation in terms of socio-demographic factors, however, scholars have not given much consideration to the macro-level determinants. In this paper, I outline an empirical analysis of what determines political participation among young people using the Eurobarometer 375 survey data from 28 European Union countries. I argue that while socio-demographic factors are crucial for youth political participation, context matters in shaping levels of political participation among young people. The results from the logistic regression analyses indicate that democratic maturity influences patterns of political participation among young people in the EU. The results show that youth engagement in different modes of political participation varies significantly across distinctive democracies, where individuals situated in established EU democracies are more likely to be politically active. The findings raise fresh concerns about existing levels of young people’s engagement in politics in advanced and new democracies. This paper also contributes to the comparative research on young people’s participation in politics.
comparative politics, Europe, formal, political behaviour, Political participation, young people
Kitanova, Magdelina
40824e70-e282-4146-a9f8-58cbf8bb855f
Kitanova, Magdelina
40824e70-e282-4146-a9f8-58cbf8bb855f
Kitanova, Magdelina
(2019)
Youth political participation in the EU: evidence from a cross-national analysis.
Journal of Youth Studies.
(doi:10.1080/13676261.2019.1636951).
Abstract
Youth political disengagement continues to be a major issue facing contemporary democracies that needs to be better understood. There is an existing literature on what determines youth participation in terms of socio-demographic factors, however, scholars have not given much consideration to the macro-level determinants. In this paper, I outline an empirical analysis of what determines political participation among young people using the Eurobarometer 375 survey data from 28 European Union countries. I argue that while socio-demographic factors are crucial for youth political participation, context matters in shaping levels of political participation among young people. The results from the logistic regression analyses indicate that democratic maturity influences patterns of political participation among young people in the EU. The results show that youth engagement in different modes of political participation varies significantly across distinctive democracies, where individuals situated in established EU democracies are more likely to be politically active. The findings raise fresh concerns about existing levels of young people’s engagement in politics in advanced and new democracies. This paper also contributes to the comparative research on young people’s participation in politics.
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Youth political participation in the EU evidence from a cross national analysis
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Accepted/In Press date: 20 June 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 3 July 2019
Keywords:
comparative politics, Europe, formal, political behaviour, Political participation, young people
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Local EPrints ID: 432859
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/432859
ISSN: 1367-6261
PURE UUID: 23cd4633-f338-4a7d-bee4-f910572d5ad0
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Date deposited: 31 Jul 2019 16:30
Last modified: 05 Jun 2024 17:55
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Author:
Magdelina Kitanova
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