Time to Grow Up
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2017-07-03
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en
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Abstract
Age has become a concept at the forefront of political contestation in the Netherlands in the
last years. From instability of the pensions to rising health costs, it seems that the younger and
older generation have opposites interests that are difficult to satisfy with a limited
governmental budget. This thesis aims to understand to what extent this clash of interests has
become an age cleavage within the Netherlands by using the rational choice, social identity,
and cultural approach. Using mixed methods (content analysis and OLS regression) the
analysis focuses on the supply (political parties) and demand (voters) side. The content
analysis shows that the political parties indeed have a focus on age and have clear preferences
for the younger or the older generation. On top of that, the focus of age within these party
programs seem to cross ideology and economic preferences, giving a complete new
dimension on how to rank political parties. The OLS regression shows unclear results. The
relationship between age and voting behavior seems to be flipped the other way around than
predicted, which means that younger people tend to vote for elderly favoring parties. It also
does not seem to show significant results. On top of that, it is unclear if the rational choice
and social identity approaches can be corroborated. There does seem to be corroboration for
the cultural approach.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen