Putting turnout at voting age 16 in context

Autor(en)

Julian Aichholzer, Sylvia Kritzinger, Eva Zeglovits

Abstrakt

Previous literature suggests that while voter turnout among the youngest voters is generally lower, turnout behavior also differs substantially between age groups of fist-time voters. This study looks at the gap in turnout levels between 16- to 17-year olds when compared to 18- to 21-year olds and how it can be explained by social context, focusing on young peoples’ household composition. We argue that political mobilization by the young voters’ social surroundings plays a key factor in this regard. We examined original data from two recent Austrian elections, the parliamentary elections 2013 and the Viennese regional elections 2015, using official electoral lists (n = 5,355 citizens aged 16 to 21 in total). For the purpose of this study young peoples’ records on turnout were supplemented by basic information on all household members. In general, our results show that 16-17-year olds have on average a higher likelihood to turnout in comparison to older first-time voters. Our results also suggest that “leaving the nest” seems to depress turnout, while having other voters in the household significantly increases individual turnout. Yet, this (de-)mobilizing effect seems to be even stronger for the youngest first-time voters aged 16-17. Eventually, we corroborate a strong educational gap in political participation: young voters with higher educated parents are much more likely to vote. The findings of this study have implications for our understanding of the impact of political socialization on electoral turnout and the impact of voters’ social surroundings. Finally, we contribute to the public discussion on the pros and cons of establishing voting age 16 in other countries.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Staatswissenschaft

Externe Organisation(en)

Institut für empirische Sozialforschung

Publikationsdatum

2017

ÖFOS 2012

506012 Politische Systeme

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/putting-turnout-at-voting-age-16-in-context(57527f02-7e4e-4918-9dbf-c9a2e5c41c4b).html