Does voting rights affect the political maturity of 16- and 17-year-olds?: Findings from the 2011 Norwegian voting-age trial

• Autores: Johannes Bergh
• Localización: Electoral Studies: An international Journal, ISSN 0261-3794, Vol. 32, Nº. 1, 2013, págs. 90-100
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • A key question in an ongoing debate about voting age is whether people below the age of 18 are politically mature enough to take part in elections. Previous research indicate that 16- and 17-year-olds are not as mature as other voters when the voting age is at 18 (), but that such age-differences are evened out when 16-year olds are given the right to vote ().

    This paper tests that hypothesis by utilizing data from a Norwegian trial in which the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16 in some municipalities. The results are that there is a significant gap in maturity between 16- and 17- year olds and older voters. There is no evidence to indicate that adolescent maturity levels go up when the voting age is lowered.