engleski

The meaning of young people’s support for democracy and autocracy: the role of the socio- political context

Scholars have stressed the importance of the political context, such as specific political and historical legacies (incl. the historical experience of democracy), in understanding the meaning of political dissatisfaction and support for democratic or autocratic political systems. Existing studies indicate that political dissatisfaction and critical citizens constitute a resource for democracy in “old“ democracies, while in post-communist countries citizens who support democracy, frequently tend to support the alternative autocratic regimes as well. However, little attention has been paid to how youth understands democratic and anti-democratic orientations, or to the historical, social and political context that could affect their determinants. This paper explores political sophistication and more specific political support variables as determinants of support for democracy and autocracy among young people in different European contexts. The analysis is based on the survey data from the EU funded MyPlace project, which involved young people aged 16-25 in 30 locations across 14 European countries (N = 16, 935, 2012/2013). The paper will give an overview of youth attitudes towards democratic and autocratic political system and test different associations between democratic and anti-democratic youth orientations in different contexts. Secondly, it tests the hypothesis that associations between political sophistication and political support variables with democracy and autocracy support differ across different contexts. The findings strongly suggest that understandings of youth political attitudes, specifically support for democracy and autocracy, should consider contextual factors such as historical and political legacies, as well as current socioeconomic conditions. We especially emphasize the similarities and differences between two groups of post-communist countries ; former-USSR countries and post- communist Central and East European countries, as well as within three groups of European countries with a longer democratic tradition (Mediterranean, Scandinavian and Western European countries).

support for democracy ; support for autocracy ; satisfaction with democracy ; political trust ; youth ; post-communism ; old democracies ; MyPLACE

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