Beyond the binary: examining dynamic youth voter behaviour in South Africa

IF 0.9 4区社会学 Q3 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Politikon Pub Date : 2022-10-02 DOI:10.1080/02589346.2022.2151687

M. Bekker, Carin Runciman, B. Roberts

引用次数: 5

Abstract

ABSTRACT The 2021 South African local government elections continued a trend of dissipating turnout among young voters. The youth, aged 18–34, constitute nearly a third of SA's adult population, and their voting decisions could have a decisive influence on electoral politics. Youth voter behaviour - including that of the ‘born-free’ generation - has been an area of critical interest. However, this interest has mostly yielded an image of young people as disillusioned, consistent abstainers. We argue that youth electoral behaviour should be approached not as a binary of voter/abstainer, but be placed along a voting-behavioural continuum. Our analysis of UJElection Survey and the South African Social Attitudes Survey data, supports concepts that function as markers along this continuum, including ‘loyal voters', ‘casual voters', ‘party-loyal abstainers' and ‘consistent abstainers', each with different underlying motivations. Ultimately, this dispels static notions, providing a more nuanced and complex picture of youth voter behaviour.

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超越二元：考察南非年轻选民的动态行为

摘要2021年南非地方政府选举延续了年轻选民投票率下降的趋势。18-34岁的年轻人占南非成年人口的近三分之一，他们的投票决定可能对选举政治产生决定性影响。年轻选民的行为——包括“天生自由”的一代——一直是人们关注的一个领域。然而，这种兴趣在很大程度上产生了一种年轻人的形象，他们是幻想破灭的、始终如一的禁欲者。我们认为，不应将青年的选举行为视为选民/弃权者的二元关系，而应将其置于投票行为的连续体中。我们对UJElection Survey和南非社会态度调查数据的分析支持了在这一连续体中起标记作用的概念，包括“忠诚选民”、“临时选民”、”政党忠诚弃权者“和”一贯弃权者“，每一个都有不同的潜在动机。最终，这消除了静态的观念，为年轻选民的行为提供了一幅更加微妙和复杂的画面。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Politikon POLITICAL SCIENCE-

CiteScore

1.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

32 weeks

期刊介绍： Politikon focuses primarily on South African politics, but not exclusively so. Over the years the journal has published articles by some of the world" leading political scientists, including Arend Lijphart, Samuel Huntingdon, and Philippe Schmitter. It has also featured important contributions from South Africa"s leading political philosophers, political scientists and international relations experts. It has proved an influential journal, particularly in debates over the merits of South Africa"s constitutional reforms (in 1983 and 1994). In the last few years special issues have focused on women and politics in South Africa, and the South African election of 1999.