Understanding Online Political Engagement Among Young Adolescents in 21 Countries

Abstract

The Internet and social media provide opportunities for political engagement, especially attractive for younger generations. Research on online political engagement remains inconclusive on who participates and what drives these activities. Studies are often limited to a single country sample and focus on a specific group of citizens (i.e., college students). To overcome these limitations, using high-quality survey data from 21 countries, this study shows that already at the age of 14, adolescents frequently engage in online political activities. Multilevel analyses show that parents, as well as schools, are important socialization agents that stimulate young people to engage politically online. In addition, young people’s political interest, political efficacy, and duty-based citizenship norms are strong predictors of online political engagement. Although the effect of sociodemographic characteristics is limited, online engagement has the potential to mobilize immigrant youth and adolescents with less civic knowledge into the political sphere.