Youth Perceptions of Voting Participation in the Midst of Catalonia’s Active Struggle for Independence

Abstract

Focusing on youth attitudes during a time of political upheaval in Catalonia, we study 1,438 high school students, aged 15 to 16, nested within 30 high schools. Using multilevel analyses, we examine their perceptions of the importance of voting across different election types (independence referendum, local, subnational, national, supernational) and intent to vote regularly upon turning 18. Results show a matching effect of perceived voting importance with levels of municipal, Catalan, Spanish, and European identification. Notably, voting importance across different elections also relates to the extent students perceived their social studies teacher as open to debate and the expression of student opinions within the classroom. This study also highlights differences between the importance that students place on voting in a possible independence referendum compared with conventional elections. For example, socioeconomic status and political dialogue with parents are not associated with perceived voting importance concerning the referendum but are with other election types.