What Does ‘Being Young’ Mean? Young People’s Political Participation in Europe

Abstract

After identifying three groups of expectations that could explain young people’s relatively lower political participation, the aim of this chapter is to discuss the elements needed to test them. To explain why young people participate in politics less than earlier cohorts, we need a comparative strategy. Specifically, we need a threefold comparative approach that examines changes in political participation and their determinants over time and across countries, and compares young people’s participation to that of adults.