Political support and electoral attitudes
Speaker:
Dr Ben Roberts, Democracy Governance and Service Delivery, HSRC
Chair:
Prof. Bohler-Muller, Democracy Governance and Service Delivery, HSRC
Date: Thursday, 28 March 2019
Time: 12:30 – 14:00
Venues: Video conference in Pretoria, Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal | Livestream by Vidyo
Presentation is available for download below:
As the 2019 national and provincial elections draws closer, two prevailing representations of South Africa’s youth have continued to predominate. The first portrays young South Africans as politically engaged drivers of change, drawing on the experiences of the recent #FeesMustFall movement as well as reflections of the youth activism of the 1980s. In contrast, the second image tends to depict the post-apartheid generation as politically disillusioned and disengaged from conventional politics, as part of a broader narrative concerning democratic recession and crisis. This seminar provides an overview of representative survey data spanning the last two decades in order to critically engage with these stereotypes.
The civic values, behavioural norms and intentions of young South Africans will be examined through an intergenerational lens to better understand whether substantive differences in political culture and democratic orientation exist. It will also profile differences among youth, in order to reflect on the degree of solidarity or polarisation in political support and values that exists among the so-called ‘Born Frees’. Gaining an appreciation of these dynamics is instrumental to the future of electoral democracy in the country, especially given the increasingly sizable share of the electorate that the post-apartheid generation represents.
This is the first in a series of five election-related seminars organised by the HSRC Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery (DGSD) research programme in order to stimulate evidence-based discussion on key electoral issues that could impact the 2019 elections.
Kindly RSVP by 27 March 2019
Pretoria: HSRC Video Conference Room, 1st floor HSRC Library, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria.
Contact Arlene Grossberg | T: (012) 302 2811 | E: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za
Cape Town: HSRC Video Conference Room, Merchant House 116-118 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town.
Contact Carmen Erasmus | T: (021) 466 7827 | E: cerasmus@hsrc.ac.za
Durban: HSRC Video Conference Room, The Atrium, 5th Floor, 430 Peter Mokaba Ridge, Berea, 4001.
Contact Ridhwaan Khan | T: (031) 242 5400 | C: 083 788 2786 | E: RKhan@hsrc.ac.za / Wiseman Mbambo | E: wmbambo@hsrc.ac.za
The HSRC seminar series is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The views and opinions expressed therein as well as findings and statements of the seminar series do not necessarily represent the views of the DST
Vidyo Link: https://hsrc-vc.tenet.ac.za/fl ex.html?roomdirect.html&key=GGKGXLnInSbnn5Mspk7JfF1qu8