There is a reverse in young abstention: parties and candidates consider useless introduce measures to convince them to vote. Because young people, guaranteed to vote unless the rest of the Portuguese
It's not the first time it happens. An official of an application reaches the last and decisive week of the election campaign and asks: Who is missing arrive? What part of the electorate can still be mobilized? Young people? "No. Young people do not vote."
In fact, all studies show that this is true. António Salvador, responsible for market research company Intercampus, asked a question to your sample of 1043 Portuguese voters in the last week of the election campaign for the presidential. "The next day January 24, 2016 will be held the election for the President of the Republic. Based on this list, please tell me which of these sentences corresponds to your situation." The options were five. Of "I intend to vote for sure" to "I'm not thinking to vote." When looking for the answers, young people (between 18 and 34 years, 269 people in total) are the least claim to be sure to vote (61.3%, against percentages always above 70 in other ranges age). And there are those who say the more intention to abstain: 13.4% in this sample in a ratio of almost two to one, compared to over 35 years.
What is new, or if now shows a more obvious way, it is that this abstention could result in the risk of political irrelevance of young people. Pedro Sales, who was part of the steering Sampaio campaign Nóvoa, emphasizes: "With the progressive alienation of young people, there is the risk that the parties go to look at them as a rhetorical instrument, especially to achieve the vote of parents and grandparents. "
Examples of this are the only topics aimed at young people who could be central to political discourse in the last two elections: the precarious employment, birth policies and the emigration of qualified young people. These were important issues which affect voters sub-40, and that the major parties, and the main candidates for the presidency, insisted on keeping high on the agenda. But, as underlined Sales more in order to "empathize" in who actually vote, parents and grandparents.
When seeking the reasons for this alienation, they appear almost obvious: "Lack of trust in politics," "lack of interest in politics," "the vote is inconclusive, does not change anything." These three responses represent almost 70% of the reasons given by the Portuguese abstainers, one of the few post-election studies done recently. This survey Eurostast, which was held after the European elections of May 2014 shows that young people who are in Portugal, most abstain. Only 19% of those between 18 and 24 admitted to having voted. The European average - because this problem is not exclusively national - in the same age stratum was 28%.
Nuno Grouper, president of the Foundation Francisco Manuel dos Santos, makes a few simple accounts and points out an example:. "They vote typically five million Portuguese Just add 2.5 million pensioners and 800,000 civil servants and is crystal clear where the Centrão is the convergence of the major parties. There was in the last election one party who said he was going to cut the pensions of older to save the pensions of younger ones. Why? Because these people do not vote. Neither the PAF or the PS explained what they wanted to social security for it. "
Diogo Belford Henriques participated in the last campaign of the coalition PSD / CDS, and disagrees with this premise. Remember, even the investment made in social networks, a means to reach, especially to younger people. The problem lies elsewhere, for Diogo Belford themes specifically "youth" are solved, in Portuguese politics. Obligatory military service is over. The "post-material" advanced topics (abortion, same-sex marriage). From this standpoint, the fees were probably the last of the themes that the young Portuguese were able to bring to the political agenda.
But there are other issues, which excludes political discourse, and are relevant to new generations of voters. In northern Europe, there have been movements for freedom from sharing the Internet - represented by "pirate parties". In Portugal, little is said about this claim.