Education and democracy: Explaining differences in democratic attachment among young people
Keywords
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Issue Date
2025-07-03
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
In this study, I research why democratic attachment among young people differs across educational levels, using data from the 2022 European Social Survey (ESS) round 10. By examining socioeconomic status, civic education, the concept of diploma democracy, and economic insecurity, I test four hypotheses that attempt to explain the differences in democratic attachment of young people. Based on a factor analysis, I divide the concept of democratic attachment into two dimensions: trust in democratic institutions, and attachment towards democratic values. The analyses show, contrary to my expectations, young people with higher education levels actually show significantly lower institutional trust, while I found no significant difference for their attachment toward democratic values. Socioeconomic status and civic education both have a positive effect on democratic attachment, but do not explain the differences across educational groups. Diploma democracy and economic insecurity are even stronger explanations for this effect, but again do not explain the differences in levels of education. This study contributes to the existing literature on democratic backsliding and lays the foundation for future research on the topic.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen