How to Engage 'Democratic Natives'? Political Sophistication as Important Determinant of Civic Activity of Young Citizens in New Democracies (the Case of Poland).

AuthorMarzecki, Radoslaw
  1. Introduction

    Today's 20 to 25-year olds are standing on the threshold of a most inhospitable future, and they are prepared to deal with it to varying degrees. In many Central and Eastern European countries, they were the first generation of educated citizens to be brought up in democratic states. Referring to Marc Prensky's (2001) well-known expression, they can be called "democratic natives." Youth (their current phase of life) shapes how they are perceived from the outside (e.g., by older generations). It also determines how they participate, express themselves and communicate with their environment (Garcia-Albacete 2014). The context of this phase of their lives will be crucial for their future socio-political attitudes (Junes 2015). Therefore, their historical experience and the social, economic and cultural conditions under which they grew up are of great significance (Inglehart 1977; Inglehart & Welzel 2005). Young people are active subjects of generational change, in which, as Piotr Sztompka says, "those who have been mentally "polluted" by the communist experience move to the margin of social life, and the young generation is made up of people already born, raised and educated under the new system" (2010, p. 274).

  2. Those who are referred to as democratic natives in this paper grow up, learn and shape their political culture and social capital in a free, democratic, inclusive and increasingly borderless Europe, within a globalized world of modern technology that is spreading, and which organizes their lives (Marzccki 2013b, p. 10-14). However, democracy is no longer as safe as it used to be. Young people who were born in the late 1980s and 1990s in Central and Eastern European countries (and who did not personally experience the undemocratic times in those countries) treat values such as freedom, independence and democracy as pre-existing rather than hard-won phenomena and social norms (though not necessarily indirectly). This may determine their specific approach to these values (Guzik, Marzccki & Stach 2015). Today, the new generation, whose voices can be increasingly heard in the public sphere in countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and many others, were raised and socialized under conditions organized by the following three main phenomena. Transformation--new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe struggled (and continue to struggle) with many problems associated with the multidimensional process known as "transformation"--a source of social trauma (Sztompka 2000; 2010, p. 139-149). Some researchers point out that the period of transformation caused a "trauma of great change" among the young generation too, which in later years was reinforced by numerous affairs, corruption scandals, arguments between politicians, aggression and violence, all of which were ever present in the public sphere. Others point out that the young generation has become, in a sense, a "victim" of political change (Kovacheva 2012, p. 48-49; Kuhar & Reiter 2012, p. 77).

  3. Globalization (including European integration)--the extremely complex and multidimensional processes (Mills & Blossfeld 2006) referred to as globalization are usually presented in two ways (Giddens 1991; Held & McGrew 2003; Ray 2007): (1) by highlighting the risks that are an inherent part of the modern world and (2) by stressing the opportunities and possibilities that globalization opens up to society (Gidley 2001, p. 89). These determine how young people lead their lives (World Youth Report 2003, p. 291). In economic terms, one of the most important problems for today's young generation in the era of globalization is their place in the labour market (see: Roberts 1998, p. 23). There are also many cultural paradoxes which affect the lives of young people. On the one hand, they live in a world of "unlimited" opportunity (thanks mainly to new media), in which they adopt the roles of pleasure--and consumption--oriented actors. Culture becomes a kind of "supermarket" which provides goods to shape their identities (Mathews 2012, p. 304). However, it should be noted that "at the same time the same person has to live within the harsh reality of orders and prohibitions. He or she is bound by institutions, bureaucracy, law, medicine, forms and procedures, and serious consequences may arise if these are not adhered to" (Melosik 2013, p. 11). The impact of globalization stratifies the young generation into those who can take advantage of emerging opportunities and who can now call themselves "citizens of the world" and those who cannot, or rather those who are not allowed (for financial reasons) to enjoy all the benefits of globalization. The complex nature of globalization (including the integration processes between countries) can also be seen in the fact that the daily life of some young men today depends more than ever on political decisions that are made outside of nation states (Beck 2005). As a result, they are--as never before--indifferent, if not hostile, to the realm of politics (Kovacheva 2005, p. 19; Vrcan 2002; Marzccki 2015a).

  4. Transformations involved in modernity--a world without borders is not only a world of greater opportunities and burdensome restrictions, but it is above all a source of new global threats. The more we know, the more we are aware of these risks (Giddens 1998, p. 27-28). Risk has become a defining feature of modernity, which is itself--according to Ulrich Beck--subject to transformation. In this sense, there is a transition from so-called first modernity (or simple modernity), which is based on so-called industrial society, to second modernity (or reflexive modernity), the subject of which is risk society (Beck, Bonss & Lau 2003, p. 4-7). Growing up in a world in which such phenomena are part of everyday reality, young people are perhaps able to explain and accept them more readily than the older generations did. However, the "other side of this coin," i.e., the re-emergence of xenophobic, nationalistic and extreme attitudes, can be increasingly observed across Europe (Beck & Sznaider 2009, p. 583).

    These phenomena should be considered within the broader context of changes that affect today's youth and the process of transition to adulthood (Furlong & Cartmel 2007, p. 1-6; Kuhar & Reiter 2012, p. 76). However, they create a new context for the socio-political participation of young people. The nature of this context can be seen particularly in post-communist societies where individuals are not accustomed to civic activity and older generations do not always provide a good role model in this regard. Additionally, many institutions in new democracies fail to fulfil their duties towards citizens.

    The main objective of this article is to describe the actual and the desired roles of democratic institutions, such as political parties, in the formation and consolidation of civic political culture in new democracies (in Poland in particular). The main characteristics of this culture are: participation in local activities; self-confidence in one's competence to participate in politics; civic cooperation and trust; and membership in social and political organizations (political parties, associations, foundations, etc.) (Almond & Verba 1963). The specific context of this analysis is defined by the question of how democratic institutions can spur the civic activity of young, politically inexperienced citizens, who--unlike their parents' generation--have grown up in a democratic state.

    The research was conducted using sampling, and the reference group consisted of Polish students. Symbolic resources available to students today are considered to be important from the point of view of the research problem. It is worth noting that recent literature on the subject features a similar assumption, which partly inspired the author in conducting the research. Tom Junes (2015) provided a detailed description of the role played by students in post-war Poland, as well as their great impact on the course of events and even specific political decisions. As initiators of socio-political change, they have a kind of executive power and, although the nature of the student movement in Poland has undergone considerable changes since 1989, students are still an important part of society as a whole, which in the future will become segmented into political, economic, social and cultural elites.

    The following sections of this article contain: (1) a review of the literature concerning political sophistication; (2) the justification of the role that young citizens play in any democracy; and (3) a description of the capabilities and limitations in the process of establishing permanent interactions between democratic institutions (e.g., political parties) and young citizens. Sections (2) and (3) create a theoretical framework for analyzing the determinants of the level of civic activity of young citizens in new democracies. This article focuses on the analysis of this relationship in the context of three variables (personal efficacy, identification with political parties and interest in politics), which make up the so-called political sophistication of citizens. Political sophistication (an independent variable) is understood here as an important resource in determining the socio-political activity of respondents (a dependent variable). Finally, the author presents the main findings.

    Political Sophistication: Literature Review

    The author assumes that members of every society can be differentiated in terms of their so-called "political sophistication" (PS). The concept of PS frequently appears in the literature as a dependent variable (e.g., explaining the level of participation) or as an independent variable. However, researchers disagree about the scope of this concept, which other terms can be identified with it and which indicators should be used to assess the level of PS (Baldassarri 2013). The scope of PS can...

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