The Involvement of Youth in Sociopolitical Life as One of the Conditions for the Development of Border Areas: The Case of the Novosibirsk Region

Abstract

The Novosibirsk Region is a border area with a high economic development level and political competition, compared to other Siberian regions. This study provides a detailed analysis of the information about young candidates for the Legislative Assembly of the Novosibirsk Region who participated in election campaigns during 2005–2015. A young candidate is a person with the passive electoral right under the age of 30. Currently, many Russian scholars consider young people to be politically passive. The official statistical data analysis demonstrated that the number of candidates (including the young ones) fielded by political parties grows with each electoral cycle, while the number of young self-nominated candidates decreases. This is mainly caused by difficulties in collecting signatures for non-party candidates—man candidates drop out of the elections at this stage. However, in the last three electoral cycles, the number of young people elected as deputies was stable: 3–5 people from different political parties (in single-mandate constituencies and on party lists). At the same time, the number of vacant deputy mandates decreased from 98 to 76. Among the parliamentary parties of the Novosibirsk Region, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia attracted the greatest number of young people as candidates for deputies in single-mandate constituencies and on the party lists for the last three electoral cycles. The lowest percentage of young candidates was attracted by the United Russia party (the ruling party of Russia). Such staffing policy may be explained by the presence of many well-known and credible candidates in the party’s ranks. Other parties are experiencing staff shortages, resorting to attracting young candidates in some electoral districts during election campaigns.