why do young French people seem to be turning away from politics?

A vast survey by the Circle of Economists testifies to the growing divorce between 18-30 year olds and political life in France. Marion Joubert, editorial and program director of the Circle of Economists, was the guest of franceinfo.

90,000 people responded to a major conversation via Messenger. And the results are clear. According to a study by the Circle of Economists, revealed by La Tribune Sundaypeople aged 18 to 30 feel largely underrepresented in politics (64%), believing that their voice counts little, if at all, in political decisions for 78% of respondents.

One month before the European elections, this survey, carried out ahead of the Aix-en-Provence Economic Meetings, reveals that 46% of young French people indicate “not having been informed” Or “little informed” (44%) on political and democratic mechanisms during their schooling, when only 10% of those questioned claim to have been well informed. Marion Joubert, editorial and program director of the Circle of Economists, was the guest of franceinfo.

franceinfo: A little over a month before the European elections, these figures seem to indicate that a real gap is widening between politics and young people…

Marion Joubert: This is very worrying and this is what also justified the fact that we are trying to find out more from this population of more than 9 million people in France. And indeed, what they tell us they feel, since it is a sort of self-portrait that we asked of them in responding to fairly open and taboo-free conversations, is that indeed, they do not feel represented by person in politics at 64%, or only by the President of the Republic (12%). This is indeed problematic for the future.

In your opinion, does this show a total disinterest in French political life?

They lose interest because they do not feel listened to 78%, according to the figures we received. On the other hand, they are very committed to many causes, particularly around ecology, most of the time on a voluntary basis. So it’s quite ambivalent. But actually, the system of our institutions does not speak to them more than that, or, in any case, does not evoke enough representation for them for them to get involved in it.

“They also say a lot that they lacked information in their schooling to say what the political and democratic mechanisms of France represent. This is perhaps one of the explanations why they do not recognize themselves in it. .”

Marion Joubert

at franceinfo

But for all that, they want to change things: 80% of them are committed to a cause, have done it or still do it. More than half of them have participated in voluntary initiatives and citizen actions. They are truly committed to citizenship, but not via the institutions as we have known them until now, whether by the head of state, by the deputies or even by their mayor. It doesn’t evoke enough for them to engage with it.

A few weeks before the European elections on June 9, does this mean that we should expect record abstention from young people?

When asked if they felt European, only 7% said “yes”. On the other hand, 25% think that they are “citizens of the world”. It is therefore worrying about the future of these upcoming elections. But I would not say that this represents a danger for our democracy. It is indeed, first of all, a self-portrait of these 90,000 people aged 18 to 30, and that is therefore what they feel. This is not necessarily what they will do later. On the other hand, they initially responded in large numbers to this survey: they therefore like to be questioned, to be asked for their opinion, to be asked what they think and what they feel. I don’t think that this is a problem for democracy, but rather that there are things to review to interest them. There is perhaps a lot to be done in terms of their education, the information they receive and the channels through which they receive it. We also noted that everything they receive in terms of information is rather anxiety-provoking, whether via social networks, whether via information about the future of the planet… They are very worried and visibly have a dissatisfaction with the information they receive even at school: they tell us that in fact they are not sufficiently trained on a certain number of subjects.

And on the economic level?

This is a figure that surprised us a lot since 84% of those questioned told us that money was not the main driver of success. So indeed, it is a quest for meaning rather than a quest for income. It’s very interesting because it will give a lot of information for the company that is arriving and for what we have to do, we who are there with responsibilities, have pictures of what they will want to do and or not do.