Youth, democracy, and democratic exclusion in the Nordic countries

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Abstract
Young people in the Nordic countries participate less in elections than the overall population. The turnout is lowest among youth in their early twenties. Meanwhile, Nordic youth have high rates of participation when it comes to other forms of democratic participation. Certain groups of Nordic youth in particular have low turnouts. Youth with non-western or Eastern European immigrant background, with low levels of education, low income, that have parents with low educational levels, and who are children of non-voters have strikingly lower turnouts.Several successful and partly successful measures to increase youth turnout have been carried out in the Nordic countries. It is essential that Nordic politicians and policymakers prioritise the work towards increasing the turnout of youth. If not, we may risk the permanent de facto exclusion from democracy of certain groups.
Publication number
2017:794