The Political Maturity of Youths and Young Adults: Empirical Evidence from Switzerland

Abstract The debate on voting age 16 is intensifying all over Europe, raising important empirical questions about the political maturity of underage citizens. Building on a survey of 4,000 young citizens aged 16 to 25 years, we shed light on the Swiss context. We find that Swiss citizens aged 16 and 17 are as politically mature as young adults aged 18 to 25. Regarding political dispositions, we find that citizens aged 16 and 17 are as politically interested as citizens aged 18 to 25 and that they display comparable levels of political efficacy and comparable attitudes towards voting as a civic duty. In addition, citizens aged 16 and 17 show stronger intentions to participate in elections and comparable intentions to participate in popular votes. Regarding political behavior, we find that citizens aged 16 and 17 consume more political information than citizens aged 18 to 25 and are exposed to political discussions with similar frequency. We conclude that citizens aged 16 and 17 are ready to vote.