Youth Political Culture in the European Union: Welfare Institutions, Political Trust, and Participation

Anna Broka
Additional contact information
Anna Broka: Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences Scientific Institute, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Latvia

Politics and Governance, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: Youth policies in Europe have long aimed to enhance political, social, and economic inclusion. Yet young people remain vulnerable across key welfare dimensions, which can delay their transitions to adulthood and full citizenship. This study examines the political culture as shaped by trust in political and welfare-state institutions, interpersonal and social trust, and political engagement. It draws on data from the European Social Survey (2002–2023) covering the EU-28 countries, with a specific focus on young adults aged 18–29. A theory-driven hierarchical multiple regression was used, entering welfare state factors in Model 1; interpersonal, social, and individual characteristics in Model 2; and political power and activism variables in Model 3, all to explain trust in political institutions. The results show that satisfaction with welfare-state institutions is the strongest predictor of political trust, explaining 40.6% of the variance. Despite a low level of formal political participation, the findings indicate that structural and social factors—welfare satisfaction, interpersonal and social trust, and education—play a more substantial role in shaping youth political trust than direct participation. Overall, the results highlight that youth political culture is multidimensional and shaped not only by formal democratic engagement but also by institutional performance and social organisation.

Keywords: political culture; political trust; welfare institutions; youth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/11715 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v14:y:2026:a:11715

DOI: 10.17645/pag.11715

Access Statistics for this article

Politics and Governance is currently edited by Carolina Correia

More articles in Politics and Governance from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().