Political Interest Among the Young: Explaining the Decline in the Advanced Democracies

An interested and engaged electorate is regarded as one of the hallmarks of a stable democratic society. However, political interest has been declining among the young in most of the advanced democracies while at the same time it has increased among other groups, most notably those with more economic resources. This paper tests three broad explanations for the decline of political interest among the young, covering societal socialization (economic development, period effects), individual resources (socioeconomic status) and political institutions (party and electoral system), to account for the decline. The data come from the European Social Survey cumulative file conducted between 2002 and 2018 in over 30 countries among nearly 400,000 respondents. The results confirm the decline of political interest among the young and show that it is based on generation rather than age, and that it is explained by the specific factors affecting the two youngest generations. The results have significant implications for the long running debate about support for democracy among the young.