Socialization and Political Participation of Young People

The purpose of the survey is to describe and analyse the involvement in political activities which takes place in the early years by means of political socialization, participation and recruitment. The underlying idea of the survey is that basic social stratification takes place in the early years, and that, consequently, these are also the years in which political attitudes are formed and participation in political activities begins. The question of how the foundations of (political) attitudes and participation are laid is of great interest as the channels of participation used by the population have undergone major changes within the past 10 years or so. Traditional channels of participation such as political parties and interest organizations have been supplemented with new channels in the form of grass-roots movements. To a large extent these new channels of participation are used by young people in particular. #In the survey individuals - and not the above-mentioned organizations - have been chosen as the starting point. The survey also attempts to link these questions with the problems of youth unemployment. #The survey examines young people's interest in and knowledge of politics in general and it also contains information about party membership, including positions of trust and activities within a political party. As for interest organizations, similar information is given concerning young people's membership, positions of trust and activities within organizations (i.e. trade unions and employers' associations). Finally, information about participation in a number of movements and associations has been included. These are movements and associations which have grown up as a result of interest in the following questions: # 1) housing, # 2) the EC, # 3) equal rights for men and women, # 4) energy sources, # 5) international questions, # 6) unemployment, # 7) social and health policies, # 8) consumer groups, # 9) environment and traffic, #10) children and young people. #In addition to this, the physical and mental health of the survey population is touched upon as well as such questions as the occupation, education and political interests of the respondent's cohabitant, if any, division of work in the home and the occupation, education and political interests of the respondent's parents. # The survey is continued and further developed in 'Young People, 1988' (DDA-1738)