Engaging Young Voters in the Political Process

The aim of this chapter is to analyse young voter engagement in modern Western democracies. Why young voters? Young voters are disengaged from the political process. In order to complete the analysis, the author adapts an engagement model from social media marketing. The adapted model consists of three parts: consumption, contribution, and (co) creation of brand related materials. The author hypothesises that each aspect of the model is related to the other and that all three aspects of the model are positively related to loyalty to the political party brand. The aim of this conceptual adaptation is to investigate a new way to re-engage young voters with the political party brand, thereby strengthening one pillar of modern democracy.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE DECISION TO ELECT YOUNG VOTERS IN THE 2020 ELECTIONS

The Covid-19 pandemic has made the government work harder to adapt to conditions that are still critical. All areas of life have undergone very significant changes so that the government pays special attention to immediately make new policies by innovating so that everything returns to normal. In times like today, the government needs an update that brings changes for the better. Brilliant thoughts and ideas are needed to be able to lift Indonesia to adapt to the situation. One of them can start by improving human resources in the government sector with the implementation of the simultaneous Regional Head Elections in 2020 later, the elected people will become the channel for public aspirations to work together in synergy to overcome the current pandemic situation. Public participation is needed to choose which candidates are ready to devote their bodies and mind to Indonesia. Therefore, it is important to know the track record of regional head candidates because it will impact their performance in the next leadership period. In addition, social political culture can shape the personality and thoughts of a group. The purpose of this study is to find out and empirically test the influence of the track record of regional head candidates, government financial information, and political culture on the decision to choose young voters in the 2020 Pilkada. The method used in this research is quantitative with a questionnaire technique and analyzed by Smart PLS. The population used active students class 2017 at UPN "Veteran" East Java. The results show that work experience, education level, socio-economic background of regional head candidates, government financial information, and political culture positively and significantly impact the decision to choose young voters in the 2020 simultaneous elections. Keywords: Track Record, Financial Information, Political Culture, Regional Head Election 2020, Luder Contingency Model

Finding DORI: Using Item Response Theory to Measure Difficulty of Registration in the U.S. and Its Impact on Voters

How do states differ in how difficult they make voter registration, and what effect does this have on voters? We propose and validate a new Difficulty of Registration Index (DORI) calculated via an item response theory (IRT) model of five key dimensions of registration (automaticity, portability, deadline, mode, and preregistration) for each state from 2004 to 2020. Since 2004, most states eased registration processes, with Democratic statehouses in racially diverse and young states leading the way. Using CCES data, we find that DORI is associated with increased probability that voters experience problems registering and failing to turnout (in both self-reported and validated turnout data). These effects are pronounced for young voters. This study holds lessons for how restrictive registration procedures can change the shape of the electorate and make it harder to achieve political equality.

Research Insights: Are Young Latin American Voters Politically Engaged?

Data on political engagement of newly eligible young voters in 34 countries during 2004-2016 indicate that voting eligibility is associated with higher political engagement, casting doubt on the view that voters are rationally ignorant. Voting eligibility is associated with higher political interest, more discussion of political issues and attendance of political meetings, and more political knowledge. These effects are stronger in countries with enforced mandatory voting. The increase in political engagement is larger closer to the prior election, and it is driven by the engagement of eligible voters, implying that young voters acquire political information in anticipation of elections rather than ex post.

Authoritarian Populism in Indonesia: The Role of the Political Campaign Industry in Engineering Consent and Coercion

All around the globe, populism has become increasingly prominent in democratic societies in the developed and developing world. Scholars have attributed this rise at a response to the systematic reproduction of social inequalities entwined with processes of neoliberal globalisation, within which all countries are inextricably and dynamically linked. However, to theorise populism properly, we must look at its manifestations in countries other than the West. By taking the case of Indonesia, the third largest democracy and the largest economy in Southeast Asia, this article critically analyses the role of the political campaign industry in mobilising narratives in electoral discourses. We use the Gramscian notion of consent and coercion, in which the shaping of populist narratives relies on mechanisms of persuasion using mass and social media. Such mechanisms allow the transformation of political discourses in conjunction with oligarchic power struggle. Within this struggle, political campaigners narrate the persona of political elites, while cyber armies divide and polarise, to manufacture allegiance and agitation among the majority of young voters as part of a shifting social base. As such, we argue that, together, the narratives – through engineering consent and coercion – construct authoritarian populism that pits two crowds of “the people” against each other, while aligning them with different sections of the “elite.”

The Changing Trends of West Sumatera Youth Political Participation in the West Sumatra Governor Election 2020

This survey aims to see the relationship between the media and changes in the norm of citizenship and the political participation of young voters in the West Sumatra Governor Election on December 9, 2020. This survey uses the survey method with 350 respondents in West Sumatra. The survey results show that the differences in gender, age and educational background of respondents do not significantly affect the media and changes in citizenship norms. The results of the hypothesis testing that have been carried out show that educational background is not a differentiating factor for the media, but a differentiating factor for changes in citizenship norms. Furthermore, the relationship analysis test shows that often the media has a significant relationship with changes in citizenship norms. Meanwhile, citizenship norms have a significant relationship with citizens' political participation. Then, the regression analysis test found that media and changes in citizenship norms together make a significant contribution to political participation. Based on the results of the survey and the results of hypothesis testing, it can be concluded that political euphoria in the transition to democracy has changed media patterns, citizenship norms, and political participation among young voters in West Sumatra.