Growing into politics? The development of adolescents’ views on democracy over time
| Author | Paul Dekker,Hessel Nieuwelink,Geert ten Dam,Femke Geijsel |
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0263395717724295 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395717724295
Politics
2018, Vol. 38(4) 395 –410
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0263395717724295
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Growing into politics?
The development of
adolescents’ views on
democracy over time
Hessel Nieuwelink
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Geert ten Dam and Femke Geijsel
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Paul Dekker
The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), The Netherlands
Abstract
This study focuses on how views on democracy develop during adolescence. A total of 40 Dutch
adolescents were interviewed in their second and fourth year of secondary education. The
study shows that the interviewed adolescents do become more familiar with politics but do not
develop more nuanced views towards democracy. As the adolescents age, a one-dimensional
perspective on democracy becomes more apparent. In the interviewees’ perspective, democracy
increasingly equals majority rule. Other aspects, such as minority interests and finding consensus,
are increasingly neglected. This study, therefore, suggests that adolescents do not ‘naturally’
develop more complex views on democracy when they age.
Keywords
adolescents, decision-making preferences, models of democracy, perceptions of politics,
political socialization
Received: 12th July 2016; Revised version received: 7th April 2017; Accepted: 6th June 2017
It is often acknowledged that adolescence is a formative period for acquiring demo-
cratic orientations. Young people become better acquainted with, and more interested
in, the political world. During adolescence, people are expected to develop an interest
in social and political issues, to be ready to discuss politics, and to become more
strongly aware of the complexity of social interactions in civil society. Even though
Corresponding author:
Hessel Nieuwelink, Centre for Applied Research in Education, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences,
Wibautstraat 2-4, 1091 GM Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Email: h.nieuwelink@hva.nl
724295POL0010.1177/0263395717724295PoliticsNieuwelink et al.
research-article2017
Article
396 Politics 38(4)
people may keep developing their attitudes towards politics and democracy throughout
their lifetime, the foundation for these attitudes is laid during adolescence and young
adulthood (Abendschön, 2013; Flanagan, 2013; Jennings et al., 2009; Prior, 2010;
Sapiro, 2004; Sears and Levy, 2003). However, in the academic literature,
two fundamental issues regarding adolescents’ views on democracy are relatively
unexplored. Because most studies (e.g. Helwig et al., 2003; Keating et al. 2010; Schulz
et al., 2010; Torney-Purta, 2002) use a quantitative approach, insights into the reason-
ing of adolescents regarding democracy are lacking. Furthermore, the focus of most
studies on age groups, rather than comparing individuals at different points in time
(Amnå, 2012), hampers reaching a more in-depth perspective on potential trajectories
in adolescents’ views towards democracy.
With this article, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the ways in which ado-
lescents’ views on democracy develop over time. We focus on decision-making as an
important aspect of democracy that young people experience in their daily lives. We
explore how adolescents themselves make sense of democratic decision-making and
how they prefer to deal with democratic issues. Our central research question is, ‘How
are changes in familiarity with politics and in views on democratic decision-making
related as adolescents age?’
By interviewing adolescents, we try to find out whether young people become famil-
iar with politics as they age and how this is related both to the way that these adoles-
cents make sense of democratic decision-making and to how they prefer to deal with
democratic issues. These issues involve multiple perspectives on the best way to find
solutions for a problem and aspects of democracy such as collective decision-making.
Re-interviewing them 2 years later makes it possible to observe potential trajectories in
their views towards democracy. In our interviews, we focus on real-life situations where
democratic issues are at stake and which are meaningful for adolescents.
Adolescents’ views on democratic citizenship
Currently, much debate exists about the nature of adolescent citizenship. Studies show
that the political knowledge of young generations is declining. Young people are less
informed about politics and democracy than previous generations were at the same age
(e.g. Galston, 2001; Niemi, 2012). Civic engagement also seems to be declining among
youth. Young people are less likely to be involved in the electoral process than older
generations (Macedo et al., 2005). However, other scholars show that young people do
participate in politics, but the means through which they participate have changed
(Dalton, 2011, 2015). This suggests that adolescents are still engaged with society and
politics. Furthermore, many studies across different parts of the world have shown that
young people are positively oriented towards democracy. Overwhelming numbers of
adolescents agree with democracy and democratic values. such as tolerance, equality,
and free speech (Helwig et al., 2007; Khoury-Kassabri et al., 2006; Nieuwelink et al.,
2016; Schulz et al., 2010). Thus, it seems that adolescents are not very knowledgeable
about politics and democracy, but at the same time are positively oriented towards
democracy.
Developing democratic views during adolescence
Political socialization research shows two developments in how adolescents gain a fuller
perspective on the political world: increasing familiarity with politics and increasing
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