Lijzenga, Hanna (2023) European Parliament elections: Why do the youth not vote? Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).
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Abstract
The European Parliament (EP) elections are among the most critical events in the EU political cycle. By casting a ballot in the EU elections, you may exercise your democratic right. Nevertheless, in the Netherlands, only 42% of the population participated in the recent EP elections, and only 35% were between 18 and 24. Therefore, it is crucial to study the underlying issues affecting the voting turnout of young citizens between 18-24 in the Netherlands. Previous studies have demonstrated that the concept of "second-order" elections, which holds that voters behave differently in EP elections, influences political engagement in EP elections. The idea of "habitus" contends that people perceive and respond to the social environment they inhibit through their routines, skills, and personality qualities, which also impact young people's political activity. The young people in this situation are growing up at a time when they are notably underrepresented in elections, which reduces the likelihood that they will form the habit of voting. Based on previous research, the causes of low participation in the EP elections among the younger generation are categorized into three main groups: hostility towards politics, lack of information, and voting has no consequences. Several hypotheses are developed based on these groupings to respond to the research question. A survey and semi-structured interviews are conducted to see which hypotheses are valid. As a result, it appears that the reasons for the low rate of youth participation in the EP elections in the Netherlands are primarily attributable to a lack of confidence in or dissatisfaction with European politics, a lack of knowledge about the date of the EP elections, and a sense of disconnection from the operation of the European political system. Solving these three problems may increase voter turnout, which is a crucial and essential step if the Europe of the future is to reflect the ideals and desires of the generation of today.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Name supervisor: | Belloir, A.C. and Van den Berg, C.J. |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Sep 2023 10:07 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Sep 2023 10:07 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/299 |
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