Youth Attitudes on Politics and Democracy in Central Europe (2024)

In 2024, NDI conducted public opinion research in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia on young people's policy preferences and priorities. The research questionnaires explored young people's attitudes toward political systems, political participation, and the current political situation of each country. This report presents current regional trends and differences between countries. Where applicable, the report also draws comparisons with NDI's 2018 and 2020 youth research, which examined similar topics through polling and focus groups, highlighting shifts in young people's policy priorities, voting and media preferences, and overall levels of engagement and satisfaction with the political situation in their countries. The research findings offer nuanced views of shifting sentiment among young people:

• A majority of youth in the Visegrad countries are interested in politics and public affairs. However, in Poland, interest has decreased significantly over time, from 80% in 2018 to 62% in 2024; in Hungary, interest has increased (from 45% in 2018 to 82% in 2024). Slovakia is the country with the lowest youth interest in politics (approximately half of respondents are interested in politics in 2024), although interest was relatively stronger in 2020 (68%).
• The vast majority of young people in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia are not satisfied with the current political situation in their countries. The level of satisfaction has declined across all countries; it is lowest in Hungary, at 13%.
• Preference for a democratic political system remains strong across the region, with the strongest demand in Hungary (93%). However, support for democratic political systems has decreased among youth by 15% in Poland and 9% in Slovakia since 2018.
• Youth in all three countries show similar attitudes and patterns toward engagement in politics. Most of the young respondents - more than 50% - vote in local and national elections. Besides voting, participation in online petitions or protests is the most common method of political engagement; more than 40% of youth had signed an online petition in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia in the last two years.
• Youth across the three countries identify most strongly with their nation and with Europe - with the latter increasing since 2020. In some countries, youth identify more strongly with a European identity than with a national identity. Further, while a very low percentage of youth say they are members of a political party, about half of the respondents say they identify with the political party for which they vote.
• Most young people in Central Europe get their information on society and politics via online media sites, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, while traditional forms of media are less popular. YouTube, as a source of political information, has become more popular since 2020.
• The most serious issues according to youth are rising prices and cost of living and the state of healthcare. In contrast to the 2020 research, the environment and climate change issues are not among youth's top five problems in any of the countries.

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