Political participation and life course transitions among young people in Europe
Authors: Stanojevic Dragan , Gvozdanovic Anja 
Published: December 2022

The subject of this article is the analysis of the relationship between the
life course of young people and political participation in Europe. Results
show that young people?s transitions in education, work, and family in
European countries are directly associated with institutional and
non-institutional forms of political participation. Entering new roles and
obtaining or losing resources (financial, social, or time) forms a more or
less stimulating context for involvement in the political field. The
analysis shows that our first hypothesis proved to be correct. Both
institutional and non-institutional forms of participation are positively
associated with the study expe?rience, and this indicator is the most
consistent predictor of both forms of participation. Young people who go
through higher education better understand the socio-political con?text and
have more knowledge of how they can influence social processes. The
transition to the labour market also shows positive associations with
political participation, but only with certain practices, so our hypothesis
is only partially correct. Young people who work vote more often, are active
within parties, contact political representatives, and are active within
NGOs. Work provides more financial and social capital, as well as the
acquisition of new skills and competencies that are important for
engagement. Employment seems to lead to a rationalisation of time and a
better understanding of the effects of engagement. The third hypothesis also
proved to be (almost) correct, as half of institutional and all
non-institutional forms of participa?tion are negatively associated with
parenthood. Entering the parental role leads to a certain repackaging of
priorities, and the lack of available time reduces the probability of
par?ticipation. The fourth hypothesis was (partially) confirmed. With the
growth of democracy within society, young people are more willing to
participate in almost all forms of non-in?stitutional practices (except for
demonstrations) and to contact politicians and participate in campaigns more
often. A high degree of organisation of political infrastructure and a
democratic political culture represent a prerequisite for the existence of
democratic practices. The hypotheses with which we examined the associations
between context, life events, and participation generally did not prove to
be justified. Although the highly educated in democratic societies vote more
often and join parties (and similar groups), they participate less often in
campaigns and are involved in all non-institutional forms of participation
at the same level as those in less democratic societies. The explanation for
the lack of differences between old and new democracies in the level of
non-institutional participation of the highly educated may lie in the same
role played by university education. In both developed and less developed
democracies, those who establish or preserve these practices are students,
who are both the most open to news and the most sensitive to social
injustices. The relationship between work and activism was completely the
opposite of what was expected. Given that work represents a source of
resources (economic and social capital), we expected that in more democratic
societies, which are also more economically developed, this connection would
be stronger, but it is actually weaker. The explanation for this phenomenon
may lie in the dependence of the sphere of work on the political field in
?new democracies?. The latter is dominated by clientelistic relations, where
a significant number of young people who enter the labour market do so
through political channels and in turn have to be active in political
parties, especially during election campaigns. The last hypothesis proved to
be correct, as context did not moderate the relationship be?tween parenting
and participation. Entering the parental role is equally challenging for
young people regardless of their location or social and political context,
and on average it certainly leads to a lower level of participation.