Rethinking Citizenship to Save Liberal Democracy

Contemporary politics is increasingly performative, apolitical, anti-political or unpolitical. Political choices are often framed as technical, inevitable, or simply 'common sense'. This depoliticisation strips people of their voice and healthy political debate, breeding frustration and cynicism. By contrast, right-wing narratives on both sides of the Atlantic reintroduce conflict, identity, and agency, fueling a conservative turn even among the young. Rather than leading progressive change, many young people — especially young men — are increasingly drawn to conservative and radical-right movements, challenging assumptions about their democratic roles. While populism and polarisation dominate current research, depoliticisation remains underexplored. Studies on unpolitics, antipolitics, and apolitical withdrawal highlight political crises, institutional distrust, and elite hostility, but scholarship often treats them separately, while this paper argues we need an integrated framework linking depoliticisation to democratic participation, value shifts, and – specifically – youth citizenship since depoliticization is integral part of democratic backsliding as illiberal regimes empty citizenship of its meaning, thus facilitating transition away from liberal democracy. This raises pressing questions: how do young people learn, perform, and contest citizenship when politics is framed as technical inevitability or 'common sense'? Is this shift a backlash against depoliticisation? Does it stem from cultural insecurity, gendered socialisation, or economic precarity? Do populist unpolitics – such as war, conspiracy, and religion – offer youth a sense of clarity and belonging denied by technocratic neutrality of apolitics? Relying on survey data on youth conservatism, digital mobilization and democratic education, we explore why a generation expected to drive progress is instead turning rightward — and what this means for the future of citizenship and democracy.