Political Participation of young people in South Caucasus Countries

Abstract

The political Participation of citizens is an important prerequisite for the creation of a democratic environment. In Western liberal democracies, citizens' political Participation is seen not only as an affirmation of democratic values but also as a certain influence of citizens on these processes. Political Participation is an interdisciplinary term and is widely discussed by researchers in the social and political sciences. Political Participation is often associated with electoral processes, as elections are the cornerstone of democratic political processes. In addition, political Participation includes relationships with and involvement in political parties and political activism, signing petitions, proposing various initiatives to political figures, involvement in direct policy implementation, and others. This report looks at the different forms of political Participation of young people in the countries of the South Caucasus, including Participation in elections, Participation in protests and political parties, their number in the legislative body, and others. Youth is the group that represents the next generation in any country, and their development, socialization, and healthy Participation in various civic processes at an early age is an important prerequisite for the future development of the country. Interest in political processes and motivation to participate are significant. Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan are among the countries that had to live together as part of the Soviet Union for 70 decades. This fact was reflected in their development and the political system's design. After the collapse of the USSR, events developed differently in the neighboring states represented. Today, their political system, regime, and other factors are different. The different political environments determine young people's different levels of political Participation in the South Caucasus region. Post-Soviet Georgia found itself in a difficult situation. Serious political crises and difficult foreign policy seriously affected the country's democratic development. Added to this were economic challenges. Like other post-Soviet states, the countries of the South Caucasus are still in a transitional phase. Armenia, the smallest republic in the region, is still trying to tread the difficult path of democratization. Looking at recent events in Armenia, there has been political Participation of young people in environmental protests since 2010-2011. The role of youth initiatives, young activists, and especially university and school students is also confirmed in several academic articles, analytical reports, and media. It should be noted that, according to 2019 data, Armenia has a government and parliament composed mainly of young people. Azerbaijan is a post-Soviet state that has gone through a difficult transition period. Azerbaijan is a country where youth and their challenges occupy a special place on the government's agenda. Since the first years of independence, the Azerbaijani government has created a kind of institutional framework for implementing youth policy by creating the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The young generation started to establish their organizations and participate in civil society activities on a large scale. There is also cooperation between former and new activists. This paper aims to analyze the forms of political Participation of young people in the countries of the South Caucasus in the contemporary period. At the same time, based on a comparative analysis, the main differences in the countries of the South Caucasus in terms of young people's political Participation will be highlighted. Against this background, it is interesting how (in what forms) young people in South Caucasus are involved in political processes. Moreover, what are the main differences in the Transcaucasian countries regarding young people's political Participation? Based on the research objective, my task is to identify the forms of Participation of young people in politics, particularly the extent of their Participation in elections and the number of young people in the representative bodies of the three countries in recent years. At the same time, I will identify young people's Participation in party ranks, political protests, or other activities. In my opinion, H1 - young people's political Participation in the countries of the South Caucasus is limited to Participation in elections and protests rather than activity in the ranks of political parties or representation in the legislature. At the same time, H2 - young people from the countries of the South Caucasus are more involved in political processes in Georgia and Armenia than in Azerbaijan. The present study uses the combined method of qualitative and quantitative research. Based on the purposive selection, a critical analysis of secondary sources is carried out, adding the analysis of official studies and reports reflecting the forms and extent of young people's political Participation in the countries of the South Caucasus. Using quantitative content analysis, the number and percentage of young people in the legislative bodies of the countries of the South Caucasus in the period 2015-2021 are determined. During these years, two parliamentary elections were held in the countries of the South Caucasus - in Georgia in 2016 and 2020, in Azerbaijan in 2015 and 2020, and in Armenia in 2017 and 2021. In the study, the young segment includes people aged 18-29, as 18 years is the lower voting age limit and 29 years is the upper limit of the European Union's definition of youth. Moreover, the official legal definition of the Transcaucasian countries coincides with our chosen definition of youth. The political Participation of youth is interesting and relevant to research at any time and in any place, as the young generation plays an important role in the process of democratic development of any country. The novelty of the study is that there are few studies in the academic world on the issues mentioned above in the South Caucasus region, as the countries of the South Caucasus are gradually developing after the post-Soviet period, which leads to changes in the political Participation of citizens. I think that analyzing the forms of political Participation of young people in the countries of the South Caucasus will provide academia with interesting analytical data and will be an important basis for future research. At the same time, the study and active discussion of young people's political Participation in the countries of the South Caucasus will contribute to some extent to the activation of young people's political engagement, which is of utmost importance for the promotion of democratic processes. The report was produced with support from the 2022 Doctoral Training Programmes of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation. Grant number: PHDF-22-3335.