This chapter investigates long-term trends in youth political engagement and representation in Sweden by analyzing population-wide registry data spanning four decades. We examine whether young Swedes—defined as those aged 18–35—vote, run for office, and get elected at the same rates as older cohorts. Despite institutional efforts to foster youth participation, we find persistent age gaps in both voter turnout and access to political candidacy. While youth turnout has improved slightly since 2010, it remains significantly lower than among middle-aged voters. Access to candidacy has declined for young people, especially at the municipal level, though supply-side constraints appear to be a key driver. Encouragingly, the likelihood of young candidates being elected has increased over time, suggesting that Swedish parties are more willing to promote youth into winnable candidacies. These findings provide a nuanced understanding of youth political inclusion in a democracy characterized by high levels of political participation.

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Do Young Swedes Vote, Run for Office, and Get Elected?

  • Michal Grahn,
  • Katrin Uba

摘要

This chapter investigates long-term trends in youth political engagement and representation in Sweden by analyzing population-wide registry data spanning four decades. We examine whether young Swedes—defined as those aged 18–35—vote, run for office, and get elected at the same rates as older cohorts. Despite institutional efforts to foster youth participation, we find persistent age gaps in both voter turnout and access to political candidacy. While youth turnout has improved slightly since 2010, it remains significantly lower than among middle-aged voters. Access to candidacy has declined for young people, especially at the municipal level, though supply-side constraints appear to be a key driver. Encouragingly, the likelihood of young candidates being elected has increased over time, suggesting that Swedish parties are more willing to promote youth into winnable candidacies. These findings provide a nuanced understanding of youth political inclusion in a democracy characterized by high levels of political participation.