YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

180 formulation or implementation of public policy or indirectly by influenc- ing the choice of those who shape public policy (Verba et al., 1995; see also Kaase andMarsh, 1979: 42; Parry et al., 1992). Despite differences in demo- cratic tradition, socio-economic development and systems, as well as the political context of individual countries, voter turnout has been declining in recent decades, not only with regards to young people (see OECD 2019; Provincial 2015; International IDEA 1999). In Slovenia, turnout in the early 1990s was well above the average of most OECD member states. This is also why it is surprising that in the second decade of the 21st century the decline in voter turnout in Slovenia has been so considerable. Although this trend is typical of most OECDmember states, the gap in voter turnout between the two intervals is one of the largest in Slovenia (see OECD 2019). It is therefore a phenomenon that must be considered along with other factors governing the political system, trust in democratic institu- tions, general social engagement, and so on. Graph 6 below shows the participation of young respondents in Slovenia’s last parliamentary, local, and European Parliament elections. The results show that most young people took part in local elections and the least in European elections. In the case of voter turnout, the results can be com- pared with official data from the National Electoral Commission (DVK). According to published data, 40.54% of young people participated in the 2018 parliamentary elections, which is a comparable or slightly higher percentage than that measured in our survey. According to DVK data, 17.57% of young people took part in the European Parliament elections in 2019, and not 34.9%, as the respondents in our survey answered. We are thereforewitnessing the practice of changing answers in terms of self-reg- istration or self-reporting among young people, related to the awareness that participation in elections is a socially desirable act or practice, de- spite the fact that altering the truth in this case did not lead to positive consequences. The latter is also clearly seen in the share of young people who, in all three cases, opted for answers that indicate a general prefer- ence for participation in elections. The percentages of young people who thought about voting or usually voted but did not vote in the given elec- tions were the highest in the case of elections to the European Parliament (17.3%and 12.3%). A comparison of data betweenMladina 2010 andMlad-