Lowering the Voting Age Does Not Help against the Rise of Right-Wing Populist Parties
Can a lower voting age strengthen democracy and support for democratic parties? Based on the assumption that the voting experience of young voters will strengthen democracy and support for democratic parties, the voting age for European and local elections has been lowered to the age of 16 in many German Länder. The “Jugend in Deutschland” (Youth in Germany) study presented at the beginning of May has cast initial doubt on this thesis. According to the study, more and more young people under 30 are tending to vote for the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) – a trend that can be measured not only in Germany but in many European countries. However, no empirical study has yet been able to prove the connection between voting experience and voting preference, so that the consequences of lowering the voting age have been answered rather speculatively.
In a new study, Professor Dr. Thomas König, holder of the Chair of Political Science, European Politics, at the University of Mannheim, and his colleague Stefan Eschenwecker have now succeeded for the first time in demonstrating a causal relationship between electoral experience and the voting behavior of young voters.