Summary

Abstract

The theme of this book is the development, in various countries and regions, of young people’s willingness to become interested in and to take part in politics while complying with democratic principles and rules, as conceived in Western democracies. These aspects of political identity-formation — political interest, willingness to take part in politics, and identification with democratic procedures — were investigated in longitudinal research projects in one of Germany’s new federal states (Brandenburg), in Israel, and in the Palestinian autonomy territories of the West Bank. The empirical analyses of this book are based on three waves of data collection that were carried out at intervals of about one year. In Brandenburg and in Israel, the same young people and their parents were queried three times; in the West Bank, three different samples were taken. The investigations in Brandenburg were carried out from 1996 to 1998; the surveys in Israel and in the West Bank were carried out between 1998 and 2000. In the first surveys, the young people were about 15 or 16 years old. Details on our procedure, samples, and measuring instruments can be seen in the appendix.