Generational Change? Political Generations and Cohorts in Europe

Abstract

In recent years, the majority of studies addressing the issue of why young citizens participate less in elections — or more in non-institutional activities have concluded that young citizens participate differently because they belong to a political cohort (generation), with distinctive characteristics (see, for instance, Pirle and Worcester, 1998, 2000; Norris, 2003; Biais et al., 2004; Franklin et al., 2004; Dalton, 2008b; lnglehart, 2008). These characteristics are the result of the social and political context in which young people were socialized politically. As argued in Chapter 3, two premises are embedded in this argument. First, since individuals are more susceptible to the political context during their formative years, they are also particularly influenced by societal transformations. Second, the values, orientations and attitudes developed during an individual’s impressionable years will persist over the course of their life. If young citizens participate less due to distinctive generational or cohort characteristics, we can expect a long-term change in the participation of European citizens. Thus, the question this chapter seeks to answer is: Do young citizens participate relatively less politically because of particular cohort or generational characteristics?