EUROPE ON THE EDGEWeek 8: Some results from the data

analysis: apathetic youth and social media impact?

Bart van der Velden & Katharina Ploss

Voting• There is a significant association between the

believed importance for a citizen to vote and the actual voting behavior in a national election, Χ2(3 )= 251.33, p <.001.

• 77% indicated that they voted in the last national election.

–14.2% did not vote in the last national election.

–The remaining respondents indicated that they were eligible to vote (yet).

Caring and Acting! Caring! and Acting?

Caring and Acting! Caring! and Acting? Cont’ed

Community EngagementNo or hardly any engagement in the community

Frequent engagement in the community

Finds it important for citizens to engage in the community

87.5% 12.5%

Finds it NOT important for citizens to engage in the community

94.5% 5.5%

Engagement in politicsNo or hardly any engagement in protest and social change

Frequent engagement in protest and social change

Finds it important for citizens to engage in politics

80.8% 19.2%

Finds it NOT important for citizens to engage in politics

93.3% 6.7%

Engagement in politics-cont’ed

No or hardly any engagement in a political party

Frequent engagement in a political party

Finds it important for citizens to engage in politics

91.2% 8.8%

Finds it NOT important for citizens to engage in politics

96.8% 3.2%

Discussion questionWhy don’t more young people engage? What motivates younge people to become active?• Psychological lens

– Self Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Drake, 2005)

– Altruistic vs. egoistic reasons (Omoto & Snyder, 1995)

• Structural lens/ Political Opportunity Structure– Insurgent Consciousness– Organizational Strength– Political Opportunities

Offline vs. Online engagementNever or hardly using

social media to create/promote political content

Regularly using social media to create/promote political content

No or hardly any engagement in protest and social change

90.3% 9.7%

Frequent engagement in protest and social change

64.1% 35.9%

Social media - Discussion questionHow can social media influence political participation?

•Pro: Arabic revolutions in 2010–Massive usage of social media to spread political

messages.–Social media are easily accessible, makes it easier to

engage and increases exposure to political news. (Howard et al. 2011)

• Con: Social media are just a tool and pre-dated by offline protest.

–Socio-economic status is still decisive for engagement. (for example Schlozman et al. 2010)

–Would those who engage online be politically active offline?