Unattached and unconvinced: Australian non‐partisans

Abstract

AbstractPolitical party identification is a strong predictor of political behaviour and social attitudes in advanced industrialised democracies. Australian Election Study data show declining identification with major parties over time, and that working‐class Australians, those who do not identify with any class, the secular and the politically uninterested are most likely to be non‐partisans. However, national samples rarely allow for detailed analysis of younger people, given the low numbers of younger people they contain. Longitudinal data from the Social Futures and Life Pathways (“Our Lives”) project enable us to focus upon young Australians aged 24 living in the state of Queensland. The Queensland data show that younger non‐partisans tend to lack post‐secondary education, are on lower incomes, are less interested in politics and, importantly, have non‐aligned parents. Nationally, non‐partisans were less likely than partisans to pay attention to politics during the 2016 Federal Election, but more likely to decide how to vote on the day of the Federal Election and more likely than partisans to vote informal. Younger non‐partisans were also less likely to engage in non‐electoral political actions, such as signing e‐petitions or posting in online forums or social networking sites.