It’s the attitude, stupid! How political attitudes predict youth activism in liberal and illiberal democracies

Political participation is a core element of strong democratic societies. This study examines the influence of a state’s regime type on European youth’s political attitudes and the role attitudes play for the engagement in normative and non-normative political activism. An online survey has been conducted among 227 participants, applying inter alia the newly developed Loyalty Questionnaire. The study identifies the regime type (i.e., liberal vs. illiberal democracy) to predict both political efficacy and the perceived legitimacy of a political system and to exert an indirect influence on the loyalty towards the political system, mediated by the system’s perceived legitimacy. Multiple linear regression analyses reveal that both loyalty and efficacy positively predict activism. In sum, this work provides insight into the role political regime types play for the formation of political attitudes and the engagement in normative and non-normative activism. The findings point to the importance of positive political attitudes for normative political participation. Results also indicate that democratic backsliding and illiberalism have considerable impacts on political attitudes and hence on the selection of normative versus non-normative modes of political engagement.