Political Apathy, Sophisticated Politics or Pluralization of Students' Political Engagement? ; Politička apatija, sofisticirana političnost ili pluralizacija političke participacije studenata?

Abstract

Studies in Croatia confirm that political engagement of the youth is changing. Although the youth's interest in politics and political affairs in Croatia saw an increase between 1999 and 2004, it was still weaker than it was in the period of socialism (Ilišin, 2011), while at the same time their political engagement is on decline. Research has found that young people are more skeptical of the forms of traditional politics and are more open to expressing their political engagement through new media. This research addresses the very foundation of the opposing diagnoses as well as the thesis on the pluralization of the youth's political engagement, based on a study conducted among the students enrolled in eight components of the University of Rijeka in 2015 (N = 635). The paper analyzes traditional forms (political party membership, elections,) and new political forms (forms of political engagement on social networks) of the students. The results are compared with the political engagement of the youth/students in European and Croatian research. The results point to the existence of hybrid politics, which includes a high readiness to vote in elections, signing paper petitions, and "liking" political initiatives on the Internet, but at the same time reveals the students' very modest engagement in either traditional or new forms of political action. ; Istraživanja u Hrvatskoj potvrđuju da se političnost mladih mijenja. Iako interes mladih za politiku i politička zbivanja u Hrvatskoj između 1999. i 2004. godine raste, još je uvijek manji nego što je bio u razdoblju socijalizma (Ilišin, 2011), dok istodobno, politička participacija mladih opada. Istraživanja nalaze da su mladi sve skeptičniji prema oblicima tradicionalne političnosti, a otvoreniji prema iskazivanju političnosti kroz nove medije. Rad problematizira utemeljenost oprečnih dijagnoza, kao i teze o pluralizaciji političnost mladih, na temelju istraživanja provedenog među studentima osam sastavnica Sveučilišta u Rijeci 2015. godine (N=635). U radu se analiziraju oblici tradicionalne (članstvo u političkim strankama; izlazak na izbore) i nove političnosti (oblici političkog angažmana na društvenim mrežama) studenata. Rezultati se uspoređuju s političnošću mladih/studenata u europskim i hrvatskim istraživanjima. Rezultati govore o postojanju hibridne političnosti koja uključuje visoku spremnost glasovanja na izborima, potpisivanje peticija na štandu i lajkanje političkih inicijativa na internetu, ali, istovremeno, ukazuju i na vrlo skromni angažman studenta u ostalim, bilo tradicionalnim bilo novim, oblicima političke akcije.