Abstract
Recent research on attitudes to politics and politicians suggests young people are dissatisfied and alienated from the political process. There is widespread agreement in the published literature that young people generally perceive politicians as corrupt, boring, or hard to understand, and as self-interested and removed from ordinary people’s lives. However, there is no consensus about the possible meanings and consequences of such political cynicism for youth political participation, disengagement or attitudes towards democracy. This chapter explores the relationship between political cynicism and pro-democratic attitudes, specifically focusing on attitudes towards democratic and authoritarian political systems among young people in Croatia.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abdelzadeh, A., & Ekman, J. (2012). Understanding critical citizenship and other forms of public dissatisfaction: An alternative framework. Politics, Culture and Socialization, 3(1–2), 179–196.
Abdelzadeh, A., Özdemir, M., & Van Zalk, M. (2015). Dissatisfied citizens: An asset to or a liability on the democratic functioning of society? Scandinavian Political Studies, 38(4), 410–436.
Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (1963). The civic culture: Political attitudes in five Western democracies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Bengtsson, Å., & Mattila, M. (2009). Direct democracy and its critics: Support for direct democracy and ‘stealth’ democracy in Finland. West European Politics, 32(5), 1031–1048.
Bratton, M. (2002). Wide but shallow: Popular support for democracy in Africa, Afrobarometer. Working Papers, Issue 19. Retrieved from http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?lang=enandid=98380.
Cho, Y. (2014). To know democracy is to love it: A cross-national analysis of democratic understanding and political support for democracy. Political Research Quarterly, 67(3), 478–488.
Converse, P. E. (1964). The nature of belief systems in mass publics. In D. E. Apter (Ed.), Ideology and discontent. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.
Dahlberg, S., Linde, J., & Holmberg, S. (2013). Dissatisfied Democrats A Matter of Representation or Performance? QoG Working Paper Series, 2013:8. Retrieved from http://qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1448/1448856_2013_8_dahlberg_linde_holmberg.pdf.
Doorenspleet, R. (2012). Critical citizens, democratic support and satisfaction in African democracies. International Political Science Review, 1(3), 279–300.
Ekman, J., & Linde, J. (2005). Communist nostalgia and the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 21(3), 354–374.
Ellison, M., Goswami, H., & Pollock, G. (2014). Understandings of democracy. In M. Ellison & G. Pollock (Eds.), Europe-wide thematic report MYPLACE, Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement, WP4: Measuring Participation, Deliverable 4.6. Retrieved from http://www.fp7-MYPLACE.eu/documents/D4_6/MYPLACE_d4_6.pdf.
Franc, R., & Međugorac, V. (2014). Attitudes and trust. In M. Ellison & G. Pollock (Eds.), Europe wide thematic report MYPLACE, Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement, WP4: Measuring Participation, Deliverable 4.6. Retrieved from http://www.fp7-MYPLACE.eu/documents/D4_6/MYPLACE_d4_6.pdf.
Fuchs, D. (2007). The political culture paradigm. In R. J. Dalton & H. D. Klingemann (Eds.), Oxford handbook of political behaviour. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fuchs, D., & Roller, E. (2006). Learned democracy? Support of democracy in central and eastern Europe. International Journal of Sociology, 36(3), 70–96.
Ganuza, E., & Espín, P. G. (2013). The political turn of citizens: What does disaffection mean? In ECPR joint sessions of workshop, politics of provocation—citizen involvement and institutional reforms across the globe, Mainz. Retrieved from http://www.aecpa.es/uploads/files/modules/congress/11/papers/793.pdf.
Geissel, B. (2008). Democratic resource or democratic threat? Profiles of critical and uncritical citizens in comparative perspective. Comparative Sociology, 7(1), 4–27.
Grimm, R., & Pilkington, H. (2015). Loud and proud: Youth and the politics of silencing. The Sociological Review, 63(S2), 206–230.
Haerpfer, C. W. (2008). Support for democracy and autocracy in Russia and the commonwealth of independent states, 1992–2002. International Political Science Review, 29(4), 411–431.
Henn, M., Weinstein, M., & Wring, D. (1999). Young people and citizenship: A study of opinion in Nottinghamshire. Nottingham: Nottinghamshire County Council.
Hibbing, J. R., & Theiss-Morse, E. (2002). Stealth democracy: Americans’ beliefs about how government should work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Klingemann, H. D. (2014). Dissatisfied democrats: Evidence from old and new democracies. In R. Dalton & C. Welzel (Eds.), The civic culture transformed: From allegiant to assertive citizens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maldini, P. (2015). Croatian accession to the European Union: EU democratization potential and issues of democratic consolidation. In P. Maldini & D. Pauković (Eds.), Croatia and the European Union: Changes and development. Farnham: Ashgate.
Maldini, P., & Pauković, D. (Eds.). (2015). Croatia and the European Union: Changes and development. Farnham: Ashgate.
Norris, P. (Ed.). (1999). Critical citizens: Global support for democratic government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norris, P. (2011). Democratic deficit: Critical citizens revisited. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pharr, S. J., & Putnam, R. D. (2000). Disaffected democracies: What’s troubling the trilateral countries? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pop-Eleches, G., & Tucker, J. A. (2014). Communist socialization and post-communist economic and political attitudes. Electoral Studies, 33, 77–89.
Schedler, A., & Sarsfield, R. (2007). Democrats with adjectives: Linking direct and indirect measures of democratic support. European Journal of Political Research, 46(5), 637–659.
Tufis, C. D. (2014). The geography of support for democracy in Europe. Studia Politica, 14(2), 165–184.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendices
Appendix 1
See Table 10.1.
Appendix 2
See Table 10.2.
Appendix 3
See Table 10.3.
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Franc, R., Perasović, B., Mustapić, M. (2018). Youth, History and a Crisis of Democracy? Perspectives from Croatia. In: Pilkington, H., Pollock, G., Franc, R. (eds) Understanding Youth Participation Across Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59007-7_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59007-7_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59006-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59007-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)