Intra-generational inequalities in young people’s political participation in Europe: The impact of social class on youth political engagement

Maria Grasso,Marco Giugni

doi:10.1177/02633957211031742

Abstract

The declining political engagement of youth is a concern in many European democracies. However, young people are also spearheading protest movements cross-nationally. While there has been research on political inequalities between generations or inter-generational differences, research looking at differences within youth itself, or inequalities between young people from different social backgrounds, particularly from a cross-national perspective, is rare. In this article, we aim to fill this gap in the literature. Using survey data from 2018 on young people aged 18–34 years, we analyse how social class background differentiates groups of young people in their political engagement and activism across nine European countries. We look at social differentiation by social class background for both political participation in a wide variety of political activities including conventional, unconventional, community and online forms of political participation, and at attitudes linked to broader political engagement, to paint a detailed picture of extant inequalities amongst young people from a cross-national perspective. The results clearly show that major class inequalities exist in political participation and broader political engagement among young people across Europe today.

Highlights

As Dalton (2017) notes, the political disengagement of some social sections of the population is a fundamental political problem deeply undermining the very notions of democracy and democratic government
We look at social differentiation by social class background for both political participation in a wide variety of political activities including conventional, unconventional, community and online forms of political participation, and at attitudes linked to broader political engagement, to paint a detailed picture of extant inequalities amongst young people from a cross-national perspective
While it is true that well-off young people may still be very much ‘doing politics’, it remains troubling if those coming from backgrounds with lower levels of resources engage at lower rates, whether this is through activities linked to political parties and other political organisations or political representatives, or whether this is in terms of applying pressure through protest activism, community or volunteer activism or even online participation

Summary

Introduction

As Dalton (2017) notes, the political disengagement of some social sections of the population is a fundamental political problem deeply undermining the very notions of democracy and democratic government If these political inequalities by resources and Politics 00(0). This is a fundamental issue for democracy since the presence of large gaps in political participation undermines political equality, which is a key principle of democratic societies, and further leads to suboptimal government decision-making as not all voices are being heard (Grasso and Bessant, 2018; Giugni and Grasso, 2020).

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Conclusion