Youth Enfranchisement in Switzerland: an analysis from the Swiss Election Studies (SELECTS)
De Boni, Alessandro (2022)
2022
Master's Programme in Public Economics and Public Finance
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2022-05-31
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202205225159
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202205225159
Tiivistelmä
Increasingly heated debates have led to the discussion of the possibility of extending the right to vote to a wider section of the population. The contrast between those in favor and those against has forced public opinion to evaluate the pros and cons of a more inclusive electoral system. This has been possible because of the many past enfranchisement processes that have occurred around the world and have taken place both at the regional and national levels.
The following work aims to use the pooled cross SELECTS dataset containing information from 1971 to 2019 on the Swiss electorate to better understand the political consequences of extending democratic rights. Specifically, the federal enfranchisement of youth that occurred in 1991 was studied to determine whether it subsequently had consequences for the maturation of political interest and increased voters’ participation both in the citizens and in youth.
The difference-in-differences analysis used suggests that on average both those under the 20s and the electorate as a whole have shown greater electoral interest following the national legislative change, this result is statistically significant. Greater interest is also observable when analyzing, over the entire duration of the period, young people who obtained the right to vote relatively early at the cantonal level. As for the electoral participation of the electorate as a whole, turnout has significantly increased over time, but more importantly, it has also increased following the reform in 1991. This effect is only consistent in the “later group”. After controlling for individual-level characteristics such as gender, level of education, age, and relative level of income, considerable differences concerning the two variables of interest can be observed.
The results obtained by analyzing the Swiss case show an improvement in democratic health in the Swiss confederation, as they lead the population to take a greater interest and be more active in national decision- making. These results, therefore, disprove most of the concerns raised by those opposed to youth enfranchisement.
The limitations given by the incompleteness of the dataset and the lack of available data force us to interpret the results obtained with caution. However, what was discovered adds to the already dense literature and contributes to the promotion of a more inclusive democracy in Switzerland.
The following work aims to use the pooled cross SELECTS dataset containing information from 1971 to 2019 on the Swiss electorate to better understand the political consequences of extending democratic rights. Specifically, the federal enfranchisement of youth that occurred in 1991 was studied to determine whether it subsequently had consequences for the maturation of political interest and increased voters’ participation both in the citizens and in youth.
The difference-in-differences analysis used suggests that on average both those under the 20s and the electorate as a whole have shown greater electoral interest following the national legislative change, this result is statistically significant. Greater interest is also observable when analyzing, over the entire duration of the period, young people who obtained the right to vote relatively early at the cantonal level. As for the electoral participation of the electorate as a whole, turnout has significantly increased over time, but more importantly, it has also increased following the reform in 1991. This effect is only consistent in the “later group”. After controlling for individual-level characteristics such as gender, level of education, age, and relative level of income, considerable differences concerning the two variables of interest can be observed.
The results obtained by analyzing the Swiss case show an improvement in democratic health in the Swiss confederation, as they lead the population to take a greater interest and be more active in national decision- making. These results, therefore, disprove most of the concerns raised by those opposed to youth enfranchisement.
The limitations given by the incompleteness of the dataset and the lack of available data force us to interpret the results obtained with caution. However, what was discovered adds to the already dense literature and contributes to the promotion of a more inclusive democracy in Switzerland.