How the descriptive political representation of young people affects young women and men’s political engagement

Descriptive political representation has relevant symbolic consequences, for example on citizens’ engagement and political attitudes. The composition of the elected body sends people signals about who belongs in politics and who does not, and prior scholarship has confirmed that as citizens see people similar to themselves being represented in politics, they are more likely to engage in politics and have greater political trust or knowledge. To date, these symbolic effects have been mostly studied for women’s representation, while little attention has been paid to the possible effect of young people’s representation on young men and women’s engagement. Yet, with the vast majority of MPs in many countries being middle-aged higher class white men, younger citizens tend to be underrepresented. In addition, we know that young people tend to be less likely to engage in more institutionalized types of political activities than their older counterparts. Our study aims to contribute to the research on symbolic representation by testing the link between young people’s representation and their engagement with the political system. Using an intersectional approach, we will investigate how a change over time in the representation of young women and young men pushes an increase in the political engagement and attitudes of both groups of citizens. To do so, we will rely on a combination of evidence for the case of New Zealand. First, an original dataset of New Zealand MPs that comprises the period 1996 (the country’s first elections under a Mixed Member Proportional System) to 2017 (eight legislations). Second, a pooled version of the New Zealand election Study survey data covering all elections held during that same period. Combining both sources will allow a systematic and longitudinal investigation of the link between young people’s representation and their political engagement.