Young People's Trends in Political Trust and Views of Their Declining Sense of Duty

Abstract

At European level, the society is facing one of the most serious concerns, namely the young people voter turnout and their non-involvement in politics. They also have poor opinions of politicians and parliamentary behaviour. Low trust suggests that something in the political system, politicians, institutions or both is thought to be poorly functioning. Studies show that Romanian young voters as well as the British ones have little expectations from the political system commitment, being pessimistic about the slogan: Your today's vote can be your tomorrow's chance!

This article is meant to investigate the reasons why this is so, and to further debate young people‟s political views and behaviour, by suggesting solutions to help strengthen their bond to their local politicians and policy makers. Our research should also be viewed within the context of the evolution of political and citizenship education in schools, promoting initiatives and attitude change and also focusing on answering a series of key research questions.

Keywords: political trust, young voter turnout, lack of political awareness, sense of duty