The TikTok factor: Young voters and the support for the populist right

Abstract

Young voters’ electoral behavior has been a particular target of interest because young people waver between apolitical and radical attitudes and the formally dominant main-stream parties suffer from this the most. We examine possible explanations into why this shift away from mainstream parties is happening by a conjoint survey experiment that tested for possible differences in policy preferences between young people aged 15 –29 and adults aged 30 – 79. We also survey the respondents’ media consumption habits, political sophistication, and trust in institutions. Results show that even though young people in Finland show no differences on average in policy preferences when compared to adults, they were systematically more in favor of voting for the populist extreme right. This difference is likely to stem from the young men who have less trust in institutions and less political sophistication than adults and an increased likelihood to get their political information from TikTok.

• ISSN: 2984-2158 (Online)
• ISBN: 978-952-209-221-2 (Online)
• Publication in PDF-format