From Dissatisfaction to Passivity: Young Hungarians in 2021

Bíró-Nagy, András and Szabó, Andrea (2024) From Dissatisfaction to Passivity: Young Hungarians in 2021. In: Growing Up in Times of Crisis. Contributions to Political Science . Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 63-79. ISBN 9783031586255; 9783031586262

Text Springer_Chapter_Fromdissatisfactiontopassivity.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 31 December 2025. Download (1MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

In this chapter, we present three phenomena related to the social situation of young people and their attitudes towards politics, in which Hungarian young people are unique in a regional comparison among the Visegrád countries. Young Hungarians are distinctly dissatisfied not only with their life conditions and economic situation but also with education and the state of democracy. Rather than spurring them to become more politically active, however, this deep sense of crisis affecting their personal situations and their perception of public life results in a deep apathy, making Hungarian youth the most passive youth in the Central European region. The consequence of this passivity is that Hungarian youth turnout in elections is low by regional standards. There are no serious signs of rebellion either in public life or within the family: Hungarian youth are also characterized by conformity, and they are more strongly in agreement with their parents on political issues than the youth of any other country in the region.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item