Pathways to politics

Abstract

Understanding inequality in political involvement is a core goal of political science. Previous research has examined specific life-course influences, but there is limited knowledge about the diverse trajectories young citizens follow to become politically engaged or apathetic. This study employs sequence analysis to identify prevailing trajectories of political involvement from adolescence to young adulthood in Germany and the United Kingdom. For a surprisingly large share, their political future of either apathy or involvement is already determined by age 17, or even as early as age 11. Only about 19% develop involvement between age 17 and 25 and only 24% between age 11 and 15. Studying predictors of individual trajectories points to strong parental influences, while personal experiences can foster later involvement for a sizeable sub-group. These results show an under-appreciated diversity of political socialisation trajectories and point to an urgent need to study the interaction of parental and personal factors shaping them.