Political Involvement of Children and young Adolescents

Whereas political orientations and political behavior of youth and young adults are studied quite intensively in youth studies and political socialization research, our knowledge regarding the civic involvement of younger age groups is more meagre. This is deplorable for at least 2 reasons. First, social inequalities can result in biased political socialization opportunities already from an early age on. Knowledge about the mechanisms of political socialization in different contexts of children is therefore key for developing strategies against political disadvantages. Second, old and new global political crisis phenomena such as climate change, war and peace, migration experiences, affect younger cohorts just as much as older ones, in some cases younger people are in fact more concerned by these developments than older ones. Therefore, this panel invites empirical research that investigates political socialization and political involvement of children and younger adolescents. A focus on groups that have been traditionally disadvantaged in their political socialization and involvement due to characteristics such as gender, migration background, socioeconomic family background and others is welcome as well as papers that deal with the impact of contemporary crisis phenomena on political identity building.