Germany is a well-researched case regarding youth’s political representation on the national level, but the subnational level remains unexplored. The chapter therefore gives an overview of descriptive youth representation in Germany’s federal states, covering both the executive and legislative sphere. Analytically, it focuses on the interlinkage between voting age reforms and the descriptive representation of young people in politics, as some federal states have recently introduced Vote16 policies. Building upon descriptive statistics as well as regression models, the chapter shows that—at least on state level in Germany—the enfranchisement of 16- and 17-year olds does so far not lead to a significant increase in descriptive youth representation. This finding contradicts the results of a Norwegian municipal-level study, which is likely due to differences in the electoral system (open-list vs. closed-list) and further research, especially on the candidate level, is needed to better understand how youth enfranchisement and youth representation are linked.

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The Limited Effect of Vote16 Policies on Descriptive Youth Representation: An Analysis of Germany’s State Parliaments

  • Kira Renée Kurz

摘要

Germany is a well-researched case regarding youth’s political representation on the national level, but the subnational level remains unexplored. The chapter therefore gives an overview of descriptive youth representation in Germany’s federal states, covering both the executive and legislative sphere. Analytically, it focuses on the interlinkage between voting age reforms and the descriptive representation of young people in politics, as some federal states have recently introduced Vote16 policies. Building upon descriptive statistics as well as regression models, the chapter shows that—at least on state level in Germany—the enfranchisement of 16- and 17-year olds does so far not lead to a significant increase in descriptive youth representation. This finding contradicts the results of a Norwegian municipal-level study, which is likely due to differences in the electoral system (open-list vs. closed-list) and further research, especially on the candidate level, is needed to better understand how youth enfranchisement and youth representation are linked.