Political Engagement Among the Youth: Effects of Political Socialization Across Europe

Abstract

In Western Europe the debate on (young) people’s engagement with conventional politics is on-going. The conditions under which some people become more involved with politics are a puzzle, since pioneer works on political culture detected differences among individuals in this respect. This paper aims to test several factors of socialization on civic engagement and political participation for 13 and 14 year old students. We focus on political socialization patterns that foster students’ political engagement, which could be seen as a starting point for political participation. To achieve this, the chapter explores political engagement of youngsters (13–14 years old) across Europe. This multilevel analysis uses data from the ICC study, which took place between 2007 and 2009. The analysis will focus on both within, and between country differences in explaining levels of political engagement and several of its agents. Furthermore, the analysis will show that parents play a vital role in the very narrow setting of an individual. On the other hand schools have the potential to reach a large proportion of young people, which could help to equilibrate the effect of missing first stage socialization and develop a positive impact on young people’s political engagement and further political participation.