Bringing the Latvian Youth Back to Political Participation

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in the fi rst democratic national elections of 1993, voter turnout in Latvia was 89.9 per cent. However, by the late 90s, participation levels had signifi cantly decreased. Scholars have pointed out that this decrease was a result of people gradually learning the limits of democratic governance while tackling the feeling of political powerlessness and decreasing trust in politicians and political institutions – all of which have had negative effects on civil society and democratic ideals. Youths in particular were affected by the sum of all this, seeing, first-hand, income inequality, economic stagnation, corruption, and personal unemployment (or that of their parents). All this, combined with a lack of democratic traditions, has resulted in scepticism and political apathy. This paper shows that, since 2009, Latvia has seen a decrease in all forms of political participation, including a share of its youths who run as MP candidates in elections. The paper aims to clarify what would help bring Latvian youths back into politics.