28.11.2024Underrepresented and Unheard? Political Participation of the Youth in Japan's Aging Democracy

Speaker

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt (LMU Munich)

Date and Time

November 28, 2024, 4:15 pm - 5:45 pm

Venue

Rämistrasse 71, CH-8001 Zürich, Room KOL-E-21

Abstract

Is the future of democracy at stake? As population aging advances in many liberal democracies, the interests of elderly voters are easily overrepresented, while the interests of younger generations tend to be underrepresented. This structural imbalance might put intergenerational equity, societal sustainability, and the general capacity to implement reforms under severe pressure. This paper focuses on the case of Japan—the democracy with the oldest electorate in the world. The elderly constitute the majority of engaged voters, while turnout among young voters is considerably lower. Moreover, young people are underrepresented in formal politics with, for example, 57 years being the average age of politicians in the Japanese Diet. Against this backdrop, many scholars attest the young to be apathetic to politics. But is this really the case? We take a closer look at how young people in Japan respond to and understand their role in the nation’s aging democracy.

In this paper, we address the following research questions: What are the attitudes of young Japanese towards political participation? Do they feel neglected and withdraw from politics or do they develop new strategies in informal politics to make their voices heard? If so, how do they participate, and to what degree do they experience self-efficacy in the process? To answer these questions, we conduct focus group interviews with Japanese university students. By basing our analysis exclusively on insights from group discussions among young Japanese and thus minimizing the researchers’ effect we strive for an unfiltered view on generational attitudes towards political participation and dynamics in problem perception. We want to understand how young Japanese negotiate the future challenges for Japan’s political realm among their peers.

This presentation is based on a joint research paper with Anne-Sophie L. König, Stefanie Schwarte and Antonia Vesting under the roof of the DFG-funded research project (510553228) “Demography and Democracy: How Population Aging Alters Democracy – The Case of Japan” at LMU Munich.

Organization

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Japanese Studies