Party Youth in Austria and Germany: A Comparison of the Youth Wings of the Social Democratic and Christian Democratic Parties

Political parties recruit their new generation from members of their youth wings. Political youth organizations and their members thus represent the future of their parties and are an important indicator of developments in contemporary democracies. Despite their importance, however, we know relatively little about the internal structures and organization. Furthermore, we know little about the motivations of young people for joining these party youth organizations, why they remain long-term members, and the activities in which they engage. To answer these important questions, we conducted online surveys among the members of the two largest youth wings in Germany and Austria as part of a comprehensive international research project on youth organizations in Western democracies. More specifically, we conducted surveys in Germany among members of the Young Union (Junge Union/JU), the youth wing of Germany’s two conservative parties, the CDU and CSU, and the largest political youth organization in Europe, and the Young Socialists (Jusos), the youth organization of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In Austria, we undertook surveys among members of the Young People’s Party (Junge Volkspartei/JVP), the youth organization of the Austrian People’s Party, and the Socialist Youth (Sozialistische Jugend/SJÖ), the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ). Our research intends to make the following substantive contributions: First, we create an original dataset that provides an important empirical foundation for novel work on political parties. Second, we use this original dataset to examine the social strata from which youth organizations recruit. Third, we examine in detail the reasons for joining, the role of family and peers, and the motivation of young people for engaging in politics. Forth, we investigate the types of activities in which members engage and the time commitment involved. Last, we analyze their reasons for remaining in the party and the role, for example, political career orientations and prospects play for their advancement.