Study developed by the CEDH reveals that 9 out of 10 young people have already exercised their right to vote

The suspicion that young people are naturally inactive at political level is not confirmed by data from the study "Youth political participation in Portugal: Results of an online survey and focus groups with young people", developed by the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH), from the Faculty of Education and Psychology, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto Regional Centre, at the request of the National Youth Council (CNJ).

The survey shows that 89.6% of young people have voted at some point in their lives. Amongst young people who vote, they have voted in legislative elections (81.8%), local elections (79.1%), presidential elections (76.6%) and European elections (45.6%).

Coordinated by the ECtHR researcher Raquel Matos, the study was developed by a team which also included researchers Mónica Soares, Joana Torres and Rui Leandro Maia. The study was carried out under the "Politically Awake Project - more information, better participation" funded and included in the Cidadãos Ativ@s Programme, managed in Portugal by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in partnership with the Bissaya Barreto Foundation.

 

"The overwhelming majority of young people are interested in politics."

"This survey shows that the overwhelming majority of young people are interested in politics, contrary to the perception that exists in society. We young people are actively participating in the political and electoral processes. We don't want to stay on the sidelines. One of the recommendations that emanates from this study is that we should have formal political education in the educational pathway. We need to be given access to the system and share the opportunities with us," says Rui Oliveira, President of the CNJ.

The survey also reveals that only 2.4% of respondents are unionised. Among the most unionised are young people between 26 and 30 years old and the most financially pro-independent. In addition to trade unionism, young people participate in political parties (17.5%), electoral campaigns (22.7%) and in associations (34.7%). The results also reflect the portrait of the difficult economic emancipation experienced by young people in Portugal: approximately 67.3% mention precarious work.

 

Main recommendations of the study

The study enabled us to draw up a current portrait on various dimensions of this theme, as well as to make recommendations that foster the political participation of young people.
Invest in measures and tools of participative democracy, guaranteeing feedback and the effective operationalization of the results of the consultations; reconfigure jointly with young people the channels of political participation, taking advantage of the networks and the mediating potential of the IPDJ and CNJ; create a public administration discipline in secondary education; create training programs on democratic powers and institutions; invest in programmes of integration into party life and disseminate ways of joining political parties; promote party activities open to the community, on topics of current interest; organize awareness-raising activities on the issue of disinformation and for a critical attitude in the use of social media for political purposes; and prepare young people early on in local politics, through initiatives such as participation in municipal assemblies.

These are the recommendations that aim to respond to the problems of emancipation faced by young people and improve democratic life in Portugal.

 

Contact with politics through social media

Both the quantitative and the qualitative study show that the lack of knowledge is the dimension that most hinders the political participation of young people. 84.1% of young people say that when they do not participate formally, it is due to a lack of knowledge. To fill this gap, 65.4% of young people consider it relevant to invest in community and popular initiatives. Young people also value formal mechanisms of political education (for example, the use of the subject citizenship education or the use of a playful parliament for children).

The perception that social networks have already become the medium most used by young people to have contact with politics, to the detriment of television, is confirmed by this study, even though this change does not seem to generate significant differences in political participation.

The results of the study were obtained through an online survey among 931 young people aged between 18 and 30 years of different social, economic and geographic quadrants of the country, and 13 discussion groups with young people aged between 18 and 30 years in eight districts of continental Portugal and in the Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira. The conclusions of the study thus encompass a diversity of experiences with regard to the emancipation and political participation of young people aged 18 to 30 in Portugal.

For more information about the project, visit: Politicamente Desperto | CNJ