UNGA MEDBORGARE OCH DEMOKRATI -Förhållandet mellan valdemokrati och deltagardemokrati i Sverige

The present study aimed to examine how support and trust in democracy was viewed among young citizens in Sweden. The study used a quantitative approach, in which a web survey was developed based on two well validated measurement instruments. The web survey was distributed via an internet site with 241 respondents age 18-29 years (M = 23.5 SD = 2.61). Four indexes were created (trust, support for democracy, autocracy and ideals of democracy) and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression models. The results showed that the participants had a fairly large support for democracy and did also have a fairly high trust in democracy. The support for other governance than democracy was fairly low. These young citizens in Sweden preferred participatory democracy over electoral democracy. A bivariate regression model showed an indication that lower trust in democracy leads to more active participation among young citizens. A multiple regression model however showed that females with a lower trust in democracy preferred participatory democracy and that males with a higher trust preferred electoral democracy. The authors argue that these important findings should be prioritized within the democratic discourse in order to be able to address young citizens regarding their concern and confidence in democracy. This in turn could give rise to more adequate efforts and decision making processes for both politicians and civil servants