Pilot study with young volunteers from the German Youth for Understanding Komitees (YFU)
Institutions of representative democracy seem to be in crisis in Germany. Fewer young people are interested in elections or members of political parties. With almost 50 per cent the proportion of non-voters is far above average among 18- to 30-year-olds. Rather than in institutions of representative democracy young people today prefer to take part in ad hoc political action or are active as volunteers in what they consider non-political movements.
We asked young volunteers of the German Youth for Understanding Committee (YFU) e.V. what motivates them or acts as a barrier preventing them from participating in politics and how they imagine forms of participation that meet their needs. In a group discussion, the young people revealed their views on political participation.