Young people cherish the values behind political participation, but politics and schools care little for their growth
Young Italians cherish collective values and interests, especially those concerning the environment. And they express a clear desire for engagement. Unfortunately, however, they have little confidence in politics, partly because politics (and public institutions) have scant regard for them and their future. And also because, for the most part, they leave a schooling system that (in the case of one out of every two young people on the threshold of maturity) fails to equip them with the tools to understand a text in Italian and solve a basic problem in mathematics (they lack the skills, therefore, to understand reality and face its various facets). And if the basis of liberal democracy lies in conscious citizenship, capable of participating in a well-informed “public discourse” (according to the clear-sighted teachings of Jurgen Habermas) and of critical judgement – with considered voting at its heart – then disappointment, disaffection and ignorance are profound obstacles to keeping our political system (a democracy based on freedoms, the market economy and welfare) in good health.
These are the considerations that emerge from two recent surveys, the first conducted by the Istituto Toniolo’s Osservatorio Giovani, in collaboration with Ipsos and the Statistics Laboratory at Milan’s Università Cattolica, and the second consisting of the 2024 Invalsi Report on the cognitive skills of Italian school students.
Let’s look first at the research by the Istituto Toniolo and Ipsos, conducted by Alessandro Rosina and based on 6,000 interviews with young people in five European countries (Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy), with a special focus on Italy (Corriere della Sera, 9 July). Italian Generation Z and Millennials believe first and foremost in scientific research (74%), then in volunteering (66%), followed, in descending order, by hospitals, schools and small and medium-sized enterprises. The institution most worthy of their trust is the President of the Republic (55.2%), followed by the European Union, the police, large industry and the local authorities with which young people have a closer relationship (the municipalities and regions where they live). Somewhere in the middle come the tools that voice public opinion, social networks and newspapers (with 43.9% and 42.5%), and, in ever lower numbers, trade unions, banks, the national government (35.3%), Parliament and the Catholic Church (32.6%), with political parties bringing up the rear (31.6%). The figure related to parties is very low, although it is growing: in 2016, it was just 13.8%, rising to 29.1% in 2020.
The research dwells a great deal on parties and politics, seeking to better understand what lies in that public space inhabited by young people where there is great trust in voluntary work (that is, community-based values: commitment, altruism, civic and charitable awareness, the ability to take on the problems of others and care for the environment, social hardship and the needs of the weakest people) but also a distrust of politics in practice and parties.
Indeed, three out of four of the young people interviewed say that “you can get involved personally to improve the country” but then, in relation to politics, only 5.2% say that “politics offers opportunities for younger generations to engage and take action”, compared to 20.4% who think the exact opposite, believing that there are no opportunities whatsoever. 41.9% say “there are very limited opportunities” and 32.5% say there are opportunities, but only “in some parties and movements”. It’s a challenging situation, but it can be improved.
There is an underlying awareness: 61% believe that “real democracy depends on parties” and 67.4% state that “it is wrong to say that parties are all the same”. In any case, for 73.9 per cent, “it remains possible to get personally involved to make things work”.
Millennials and the so-called Generation Z, while highly critical, are leaving the door open to active political leaders, making a gesture of trust and declaring themselves available – all of which they hope will be taken up. And meanwhile they are getting down to work, with widespread volunteering providing ample confirmation of their engagement.
Enrico Giovannini, Scientific Director for Asvis, the Alliance for Sustainable Development, comments: “It is a stereotype that young people are not interested in politics. They are not interested in this kind of politics, because they are dissatisfied with their representation among political parties and how such parties act, with the ‘politicking’ you see on talk shows. Instead, they are socially engaged”, they believe in the values of merit and work done well and are passionate about environmental and social sustainability issues. In short, it is up to the parties and institutions to engage with how young people display attention and interest and try to come up with satisfactory answers.
Nevertheless, there remains an underlying problem with education and providing the tools required to understand a rapidly changing reality. Tests carried out by INVALSI, Italy’s educational assessment institute (covered by Chiara Saraceno in La Stampa on 12 July), document a slow improvement in the acquisition of cognitive skills by the country’s students in primary school through to upper secondary school, although the numbers of young people not achieving minimum proficiency levels despite finishing their schooling remains a serious problem: 44% for Italian, 48% for mathematics and, respectively, 40% and 55% for understanding a written or spoken text in English (with the phenomenon particularly acute in southern regions).
Chiara Saraceno comments: “There is concern, and rightly so, about the low logical and mathematical skills of a significant proportion of youngsters and a pronounced gender gap to the detriment of girls, which already seems to be well established in primary school (a phenomenon not found, at least not to the same degree, in other countries). But equally worrying should be the poor grasp of the use of the Italian language and text comprehension skills, which affects half of school-leavers, and males to a greater extent than females”.
In short, “we should not underestimate the risk of these children being led towards functional illiteracy, reducing their ability to understand the information they receive, to express and process their own and others’ emotions, to enjoy culture in all its forms, and to assert their rights in democratic debate”. In other words, to consciously engage in politics. To fully engage as citizens. And that harms freedom, participation and the future.
(photo Getty Images)
Young Italians cherish collective values and interests, especially those concerning the environment. And they express a clear desire for engagement. Unfortunately, however, they have little confidence in politics, partly because politics (and public institutions) have scant regard for them and their future. And also because, for the most part, they leave a schooling system that (in the case of one out of every two young people on the threshold of maturity) fails to equip them with the tools to understand a text in Italian and solve a basic problem in mathematics (they lack the skills, therefore, to understand reality and face its various facets). And if the basis of liberal democracy lies in conscious citizenship, capable of participating in a well-informed “public discourse” (according to the clear-sighted teachings of Jurgen Habermas) and of critical judgement – with considered voting at its heart – then disappointment, disaffection and ignorance are profound obstacles to keeping our political system (a democracy based on freedoms, the market economy and welfare) in good health.
These are the considerations that emerge from two recent surveys, the first conducted by the Istituto Toniolo’s Osservatorio Giovani, in collaboration with Ipsos and the Statistics Laboratory at Milan’s Università Cattolica, and the second consisting of the 2024 Invalsi Report on the cognitive skills of Italian school students.
Let’s look first at the research by the Istituto Toniolo and Ipsos, conducted by Alessandro Rosina and based on 6,000 interviews with young people in five European countries (Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy), with a special focus on Italy (Corriere della Sera, 9 July). Italian Generation Z and Millennials believe first and foremost in scientific research (74%), then in volunteering (66%), followed, in descending order, by hospitals, schools and small and medium-sized enterprises. The institution most worthy of their trust is the President of the Republic (55.2%), followed by the European Union, the police, large industry and the local authorities with which young people have a closer relationship (the municipalities and regions where they live). Somewhere in the middle come the tools that voice public opinion, social networks and newspapers (with 43.9% and 42.5%), and, in ever lower numbers, trade unions, banks, the national government (35.3%), Parliament and the Catholic Church (32.6%), with political parties bringing up the rear (31.6%). The figure related to parties is very low, although it is growing: in 2016, it was just 13.8%, rising to 29.1% in 2020.
The research dwells a great deal on parties and politics, seeking to better understand what lies in that public space inhabited by young people where there is great trust in voluntary work (that is, community-based values: commitment, altruism, civic and charitable awareness, the ability to take on the problems of others and care for the environment, social hardship and the needs of the weakest people) but also a distrust of politics in practice and parties.
Indeed, three out of four of the young people interviewed say that “you can get involved personally to improve the country” but then, in relation to politics, only 5.2% say that “politics offers opportunities for younger generations to engage and take action”, compared to 20.4% who think the exact opposite, believing that there are no opportunities whatsoever. 41.9% say “there are very limited opportunities” and 32.5% say there are opportunities, but only “in some parties and movements”. It’s a challenging situation, but it can be improved.
There is an underlying awareness: 61% believe that “real democracy depends on parties” and 67.4% state that “it is wrong to say that parties are all the same”. In any case, for 73.9 per cent, “it remains possible to get personally involved to make things work”.
Millennials and the so-called Generation Z, while highly critical, are leaving the door open to active political leaders, making a gesture of trust and declaring themselves available – all of which they hope will be taken up. And meanwhile they are getting down to work, with widespread volunteering providing ample confirmation of their engagement.
Enrico Giovannini, Scientific Director for Asvis, the Alliance for Sustainable Development, comments: “It is a stereotype that young people are not interested in politics. They are not interested in this kind of politics, because they are dissatisfied with their representation among political parties and how such parties act, with the ‘politicking’ you see on talk shows. Instead, they are socially engaged”, they believe in the values of merit and work done well and are passionate about environmental and social sustainability issues. In short, it is up to the parties and institutions to engage with how young people display attention and interest and try to come up with satisfactory answers.
Nevertheless, there remains an underlying problem with education and providing the tools required to understand a rapidly changing reality. Tests carried out by INVALSI, Italy’s educational assessment institute (covered by Chiara Saraceno in La Stampa on 12 July), document a slow improvement in the acquisition of cognitive skills by the country’s students in primary school through to upper secondary school, although the numbers of young people not achieving minimum proficiency levels despite finishing their schooling remains a serious problem: 44% for Italian, 48% for mathematics and, respectively, 40% and 55% for understanding a written or spoken text in English (with the phenomenon particularly acute in southern regions).
Chiara Saraceno comments: “There is concern, and rightly so, about the low logical and mathematical skills of a significant proportion of youngsters and a pronounced gender gap to the detriment of girls, which already seems to be well established in primary school (a phenomenon not found, at least not to the same degree, in other countries). But equally worrying should be the poor grasp of the use of the Italian language and text comprehension skills, which affects half of school-leavers, and males to a greater extent than females”.
In short, “we should not underestimate the risk of these children being led towards functional illiteracy, reducing their ability to understand the information they receive, to express and process their own and others’ emotions, to enjoy culture in all its forms, and to assert their rights in democratic debate”. In other words, to consciously engage in politics. To fully engage as citizens. And that harms freedom, participation and the future.
(photo Getty Images)