Youth Voter Turnout at Municipal Elections – Democracy and Voter Behaviour

摘要

This project deals with young people’s low turnout in municipal elections in Denmark. The problem is illuminated by political and social science.The low electoral municipality turnout by young people was in 2009 by scientists touted to be alarmingly low and a threat to the democracy. When the municipal election 2013 was prepared, the government, the Local Government Denmark and municipal politicians organized interventions targeting the young age groups intended to get them to the voting booth. The electoral turnout was increased across the country, and especially for young people. It seems that the initiatives have not been in vain, but although it definitely is important in a democracy that people vote, it can be questioned if a turnout of 100% is desirable. In addition, interest and desire seem to be a better incentive for voting for both democracy and ultimately the individual itself.Initially, we show that the youth vote less than the rest of the population. First, we describe the problem in this election and describe how the turnout was significantly lower than for the rest of the population. Then we show that voter turnout is generally low in municipal elections compared to general elections.Through qualitative interviews we examine how the young people themselves and experts in election research and municipal participation, look at the importance of voting at municipal election and compare their comments with, the opinion of two experts, and the trends of the coherence of the municipalities. Then we look at the discourse of voting at municipal elections and analyze whether it really is a problem that young people have a low turnout. Furthermore, we present theory and hypotheses, which we analyze in the context of interviews with young people and experts. This brings us forward to a number of reasons for the voting behavior of the young generation. We conclude that the legitimacy of power deteriorates politically, and that cohesiveness will not be optimal, when it is not backed up with a high turnout by all groups in the population, and it is therefore important to have a high voter turnout. We also conclude that it is debatable, how much one vote is worth, and thus how many resources the community need to spend to get the turnout up. At the same time, we conclude that the causes of young people's low voter turnout is often rooted in practical considerations, low sense of duty to vote in municipal elections, ignorance of both the municipal system, parties and candidates, as well as the influence of parents and lack of interest in municipal elections in general.