Survey n°3
Working Group: SLOVAKIA
Your Name: MACHACEK LADISLAV
Title of the study: EUYOUPART Political Participation of Young People in Europe The Slovak National Report on Quantitative Work in EUYOUPART
Authors (who are they): Ladislav Macháček (Slovakia)
Relevance for Working Group:
EUYOUPART further suggested the importance of measuring not only the opinions and attitudes of respondents but eventually their civic and political behaviour as well as some fundamental knowledge about political life, in particular with regards to countries of the European Union.
Research Question(s):
Four questions from each area were chosen, totalling eight questions. Respondents could answer: 'true' 'false,' or 'I don't know.'
In European issues: Approximately 70% of young people have correct knowledge about the EU, its members and symbols. Only the question on the recent change of the head of the European Commission (R.Prodi – J.Barrosso) invoked a 40% "I don't know" response. In each of the four questions 15-20% of respondents answered incorrectly.
In national politics: Respondents know much more about their national politics (80-90% correct answers), when it comes to parliamentary elections or the name of the Prime Minister or Vice-Chairman of a particular political party.This set of questions was not obligatory and some countries did not include these questions into their questionnaire (Germany,Finland).
Methodology (Survey, secondary analysis, qualitative data, no. Of respondents etc.):
EUYOUPART Political Participation of Young People in Europe – Development of Indicators for Comparative Research in the European Union Project funded under the 5th Framework Programme by the EC as well as by national funding sources. Institute for Social Research and Analysis-SORA (Coordinator) Österreichisches Institut für Jugendforschung, Fondazione IARD, Finnish Youth Research, Network, Institute of International and Social Studies of Tallinn Pedagogical University, University of St. Cyril and Method in Trnava, Deutsches Jugend Institut, University of Birmingham, Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques.
Target population: Young people from 15-25 years Sample design: Stratified, multistage, clustered random sampling Sample Size: 8.030 (Austria n=1007, Estonia n=997, Finland n=1008, France n=1010, Germany n=1037, Italy n=989, Slovakia n=982, UK n=1000) Method of data collection: Face-to-Face Interviews Weighting: Yes (single national weights and one common weight, which weights all national weights to n=1000) (weighted sample size = 8.000).Datagathering in Slovakia ASA s r.o. Bratislava
Status (running, date for completion): Field time: November 2004 until January 2005.
Results:
The results of "Political Knowledge Among Young People" are not the quality reflection of civic education in Slovakia that we would like to see. Still, the comparison showed that the same situation can be found in other countries as well. Interest in politics and national politics in particular, is associated with a better knowledge of democratic principles. For example, in Slovakia knowledge scores climb higher no matter what political orientation young people prefer ("left-wing" or "right-wing"), 71-72%. More intense political preferences underscore fundamental knowledge of democracy and its principles. The Indicator from the eight knowledge questions implies that with increasing age (15-25) the score in Slovakia grows, with the exception of "knowledge about how parliamentary democracy works". This knowledge is significantly influenced by education on democracy and citizenship as taught in Civic Education and Science on Society courses. Additionally, this knowledge is undoubtedly determined by the transformation process of the political system in post-communist countries like Slovakia. Young people are rather sceptical when it comes to public political life; they distrust institutions of the state, for example law, and there is a tendency to support autocratic forms of leadership. Our findings confirm the hypothesis that education in some countries (e.g. Austria) devotes much attention to EU issues and its institutional background.This is likely due to a more precise attitude toward studying and memorizing.Overall, women measure better on knowledge than men. In other countries (e.g. Estonia) young people aged 18-25 gain knowledgevia political participation and a general interest in politics. This is more typical of boys and young men than girls and young women. In the third group of countries (e.g. Slovakia) real civic and political participation invokes rather contradictory doubts as to what young people learned at school about principles of democracy. The democratic citizenship of individuals and nations is built on gaining knowledge of a democratic legal system. Developing one's knowledge potential is one aspect of legal awareness, but is not the only one. Under certain social circumstances it is not even the decisive one. A further element that interferes with the whole process is the conflict of social interests. This conflict could, after reaching a certain limit, eliminate the constructive knowledge potential that was gained through education9. The rather worrying results of the civic knowledge test on EU issues may be viewed as a challenge to modernize education towards democratic citizenship in schools as well as in informal education outside of schools; 2005 was declared "The Year of Education toward European Democratic Citizenship." Many assignments of this program can be found in "The Action Plan of Youth Politics in Slovakia for 2005" and are a substantial part of the European Commission's monitoring of the participation and education of youth in all EU countries. The results of the survey communicated important information for everyone involved in youth work, youth policy, and youth education within the European Union.
Publications (type of publication, language):
Macháček L Slovenská mládež: Test elementárnych znalostí o politike a demokracii. In: Pedagogická orientace : Odborný čtvrtletník a zpravodaj ČPdS. – ISSN 1211-4669. – è. 2 (2005), s. 15-21. (Slovak lanquage)
Macháček,L.: Political knowledge and the political attitudes of youth in EU and Slovakia. In: The Central European Dimension of Youth Research ,CENYR,Trnava 2005, 36-46 pp. (English lanquage).
Access to raw data for secondary analysis (yes/no?):
Yes.
