Work

Inside party youth wings: The YOUMEM project

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Youth wings fulfil vital democratic functions. They connect parties with young people, socialise them into political life, and train future candidates and officials. Yet, youth wings have been largely overlooked by party scholars. In this article, we present the Youth Wing Membership Survey (YOUMEM) dataset. With responses from over 5,000 members of 12 youth wings in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, YOUMEM is the largest comparative study of youth wing members ever conducted. Using the dataset, we examine some basic questions about youth wing members: who they are, when and why they join. We find that youth wing members are primarily men and highly educated. Many have relatives who were party members, and most are extremely ambitious compared to senior party members. Beyond these commonalities, we also uncover differences across party families and countries. Our project provides a unique window on the young people in contemporary youth wings.

Source: Party Politics

DOI: 10.1177/13540688241310349

Authors: Duncan McDonnell, Sofia Ammassari, Marco Valbruzzi, Niklas Bolin, Annika Werner, Reinhard Heinisch, Ann-Cathrine Jungar, Carsten Wegscheider

Institutions: Griffith University, University of Naples Federico II, Mid Sweden University, University of Southampton, University of Salzburg, Södertörn University, University of Münster

Language: English

Topic: Electoral Systems and Political Participation

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,450

OpenAlex ID: W4405726789

FWCI: 82.6

Cites: 40

Cited by: 50

Related to: 10