Det politiske generasjonsgapet
In the last few years, there has been a rise in political activism among young people across the democratic world. We have seen them protesting against racism and demanding stricter climate policies. This chapter deals with political participation, values and the political agenda of young people in Norway over the last 20 years. Have there been changes over time, perhaps linked to digitalization and globalization, during this period? Have these developments led to a political generation gap between young people, adults and the elderly? Our analyses do indeed reveal an increasing age gap in which young people have different political preferences than persons in the older age groups. While these differences are greater now than at any other point in the last 20 years, they still remain moderate. Young people hold more radical positions on climate policy, they are more liberal concerning immigration, and they are somewhat to the right of the adult population when it comes to economic policy. Voter turnout and other forms of political participation have increased among people under the age of 30. Younger people are more prone to mobilize for political activism on digital platforms through their social networks than people in the older age groups are. Using perspectives from the sociology of generations, we discuss the implications of our findings for the political mobilization of young people in a digital future.