Political Thinking and Political Strategies of Youth

Introduction. Formation of political culture of youth in conditions of complex geopolitical situation and multipolarity of political opinions and decisions becomes an urgent task for modern socialization institutions. The choice of the most effective directions and forms of organisation of this process is based on the understanding of the characteristics of political thinking of modern youth. The scientific problem of the article is to explore and identify indicators of characteristics of political thinking of modern youth and defining options of their transformation into life choices of political strategies. The purpose of the research is to assess the characteristics of political thinking and strategies of youth as a basis for forecasting the consequences of political reflection of youth. Materials and Methods. The verification of the research model was based on data from the 2022 sociological study conducted by the International Centre for Sociological Research of the Belgorod State National Research University. The study was conducted using an online survey method and involved 4,215 people, regional youth aged 17–35, divided into age and status groups (students, graduates and working youth). Results. As a scientific result, the characteristics of political thinking are identified and its possible deviations are called additional characteristics. The indicators of young people’s political thinking characteristics are verified, their main accentuations are established, types of dispositions of young people and life planning guidelines in relation to political strategies are considered. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study and the analysis revealed problems associated with a risky combination of characteristics of political thinking (criticism and pessimism), which potentiate migration activity, marginalisation and anomie among young people; with the reproduction of inequality in the political socialisation of rural youth; with the unwillingness of the state to support politically ambitious youth. The results of the study contribute to the development of sectoral sociologies such as youth sociology and political sociology. The research materials may be requested by state youth policy management bodies at various levels, state and municipal government bodies, management bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, youth organisations and educational institutions.