ENHANCING RUSSIAN YOUTH ELECTORAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

Currently, our country is preparing for a Nationwide vote on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The country is on the threshold of significant changes in social and political life. In Russia, as in any democratic state, its people are the only source of power, and any citizen has the right to exercise political participation in one way or another, to influence the adoption and implementation of state decisions, and to vote in elections. Active involvement of young people in political life is an important resource for the long-term development of society and the state as a whole. It is believed that youth generation is marked by apparent disinterest in political life in almost all countries of the world. The author of the article assumes that the situation is currently changing, and, at the same time, the interest of young people in politics increases, especially when certain important events occur in the socio-political life of the country. The article considers objective conditions and factors that influence the electoral behavior of the younger generation. First of all, it is the level of political culture and the conditions in which the political socialization of a young person as a representative of a particular society takes place. Young people also take part in more localised social action activities and it is advisable to use them as one of the factors for increasing their electoral activity. At the same time, the author points out that in order to prevent the protest behaviour of young people, the state and civil society should pay attention to socialization of its citizens. The author identifies key points for the inclusion of young people in electoral processes and compiles good practice examples of mechanisms for youth political empowerment implemented in Novgorod region.

Keywords: youth; political culture; political socialization; political participation; electoral activity.

References

Batalov E.Ya. Politicheskaya kul'tura sovremennogo amerikanskogo obshchestva [The Political Culture of Modern American Society]. M.: Nauka, 1990. 256 p. (In Russ.).

Ezhov D.A. Actual trends and factors of the electoral activity of Russian youth // ASR: Economics and Management. 2018. Vol. 7. No. 3 (24). pp. 356-358. (In Russ.).

Lukov V.A. Innovatsionnyi potentsial: vozmozhno li ego schitat' atributom molodezhi [Innovative potential: can it be considered an attribute of youth] / Gosudarstvennaya molodezhnaya politika: rossijskaya i mirovaya praktika realizatsii v obshchestve innovatsionnogo potentsiala novyh pokolenii [State youth policy: Russian and world practice of reaffirmation in society of the innovative potential of new generations]: collection of articles. M.: Publisher of Moscow Humanitarian University, 2011. pp. 7-16. (In Russ.).

Olshanskii D.V. Osnovy politicheskoi psihologii [Basis of political psychology]. Ekaterinburg: Delovaya kniga. 2001. 496 p. (In Russ.).

Petuhov V.V. Grazhdanskoe obshchestvo i demokratiya uchastiya [Civil society and participatory democracy] // Monitoring of Public Opinion. 2006. No. 1. pp. 22-25. (In Russ.).

Pyrma R.V. Electoral participation of youth in the USA, Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia // ‘Politiya’. 2019. No. 4 (95). pp. 188-204. (In Russ.).

Author

Inna G. Mityunova – PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, Docent; Associate Professor, Department of History of State and Law, Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Veliky Novgorod, Russia.
E-mail: Inna.Mityunova@novsu.ru. SPIN РИНЦ 3603-1373.

For citation:
Mityunova I.G. Enhancing Russian Youth Electoral Activity // BENEFICIUM. 2020. No. 1 (34). pp. 65-71. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.34680/BENEFICIUM.2020.1(34).65-71.