The lowest level of political literacy was shown by young people aged 15 to 19 * More than half of young people do not know who the Prime Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina are. entities of the RS and FBiH, as well as the state of BiH * Political parties and politicians have a very negative image among young people
The Institute for Youth Development KULT conducted research on the political literacy of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is one of the rare researches on the topic of political literacy in our country based on a representative sample of young people from the whole country. The research was conducted in the first half of 2024, and the attitudes and opinions of young people were questioned on various topics that indicate the level of their political literacy, as well as their involvement in political and social events.
The data in the research was collected by anonymously surveying 1,069 young people across BiH between the ages of 15 and 30, while the second part of the research represented supplementing this data through focus groups, that is, group discussions with young people from different parts of BiH.
According to the results of the research, young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina get their information mostly through internet portals (76.7%) and social networks, with Instagram and Facebook leading the way. In addition, more than half of young people gather information through conversations with family, friends or colleagues. However, through conversations with young people in focus groups, the majority confirmed that they do not pay much attention to checking the accuracy of the information they get in the media, unless they are particularly interested in a topic, so they read news from multiple sources.
“Young people are insufficiently informed about certain current political topics, events or actors in the country, and as an example we can cite a poor knowledge of the facts when it comes to the persons appointed to the most responsible positions in the executive power. Analyzing data on the knowledge of the current chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, almost two-thirds of respondents did not know that Borjana Krišto currently holds that position. In addition, almost two-thirds of the respondents do not know who the Prime Minister of BiH is. entity Republika Srpska. The situation is similar with the federal prime minister, because more than half of the surveyed young people answered that they did not know the answer or answered this question incorrectly” , says Aziz Đipa from the Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
The research shows that among young people in BiH there is a significant degree of ambiguity regarding who constitutes the executive and legislative power, which indicates the need for additional education and information for young people about the political system and the functions of different state bodies and the roles of different branches of government.
The results suggest that the majority of young people in BiH have a basic understanding of the key elements that define a state, including political organization and territorial integrity. However, the presence of answers that indicate ambiguities or specific perceptions indicates the need for additional education in this area, in order to strengthen the understanding of the complex aspects of statehood.
What the young people showed in this survey is that they mostly know what the Constitution and the referendum are, what the Dayton Peace Agreement represents, as well as what civil rights, democracy, dictatorship are… After that, most of them are clear about the role of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. what are the entities and what are their powers. When it comes to freedom of speech, more than half of young people understand exactly what it means, while a third of respondents believe that freedom of speech is the expression of one’s opinion without any restrictions.
In the research, young people showed a high level of political literacy in relation to basic civil rights, for example, what is the right to vote and at what age a person has the right to vote in elections. In the focus groups, young people talked about the reasons why they vote in elections, which is most often a sense of civic duty and the need for change, although there were also young people who pointed out that they go to the elections only so that their vote “does not end up somewhere else”. .
When it comes to trust in social and political actors, young people, for the most part, pointed out that they do not trust politicians and political parties much. Two out of five young people believe that politicians, after winning mandates, generally do not fulfill what they promised to do before the elections, while almost half of young people (48.1%) claim that they have no confidence in political parties. More than a third of young people admitted that they do not read the programs of the parties before voting in the elections, and as one of the reasons they state that there is no point in reading them “because they know that the parties will not fulfill any of them”.
According to the results of the research, religious institutions instill much more trust in young people. Every fifth young person has complete trust in the work of religious institutions, while a quarter of young people are undecided. On the other hand, in focus groups, young people clarified certain reasons for their dissatisfaction with the work of religious institutions and their representatives, considering that many of them are closely tied to politics and only look out for their own interests, which is unacceptable to them for religious institutions.
When it comes to trust in different levels of government, young people have the most trust in local instances of government, compared to cantonal, entity and state. And during conversations with young people in focus groups, they very clearly expressed their deviation from the ruling structures. Nevertheless, two-fifths (42.2%) of those surveyed declared that they are somewhat or extremely interested in politics and political events, and a similar proportion of young people are somewhat or completely uninterested in politics (38.5%). It should also be emphasized that men are more interested in politics than women. Likewise, young people in the older age groups are more interested in politics, compared to those from the youngest age group, who for the most part, even during the conversation, expressed absolutely no interest in politics “considering that they are too young to deal with it”.
Young people in BiH are mostly positive when it comes to the attitude towards BiH’s membership in the European Union, as almost two thirds of young people are in favor of BiH joining the EU. No other important differences were observed among young people in terms of urbanization, place of residence or age when it comes to their attitude towards EU membership, but there are noticeable trends that young people in FBiH are more in favor of EU membership than young people in the RS. A little more than half of young people are in favor of BiH joining NATO, but as in the case of EU membership, there are noticeable trends that young people from the RS are less inclined to BiH’s membership in NATO.
When everything is summed up, the lowest level of political literacy and engagement is shown by young people between the ages of 15 and 19, that is, those of high school age. The research also showed that knowledge in this area depends a lot on the type of secondary school education of young people. The worst results were shown by those with a three-year education, while the highest knowledge in the youngest category of young people was shown by those who attended high school.
The implication of these data is related to the necessary changes in curricula in order to enable young people who attend secondary three- or four-year focused education to acquire knowledge related to political literacy, which in the future would enable them to make better and more informed decisions about their political or voting preferences.
The young people who showed the best result on the political literacy questionnaire are mostly young people with a university education, or who have completed high school or high school. Based on the data analyzed by the Institute, men achieve somewhat better results on the average score of political literacy compared to women. The most politically literate young people are generally 20 or older, and are slightly more likely to be male than female.
We need to work with young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina on additional political literacy, and such a process must be structured, systematized, through formal and informal education, in order to give the best results. The political literacy of young people cannot be based only on the marketing of information through the media that young people follow. Understanding political processes, institutions, rights and obligations of citizens, enables young people to be informed and active participants in society and is the foundation for building a democratic society in which every individual can contribute to decision-making.
Research on the political literacy of young people was carried out by the Institute for Youth Development KULT with the support of the Swedish Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SIDA).
The full research can be found HERE .
Source: mladi.org
