Youths participation in elections : A case study of the “born-free” generation in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and the abstention in election.

Sammanfattning: This research is based on a minor field study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The purpose of this research is to examine the born-free generation participation in elections in KwaZulu-Natal. The born-free generation is born after the apartheid ended in 1994 when the ANC and Nelson Mandela was elected. Previous studies are claiming that youths are abstainers with little interest of politics and elections. To answer the research question; Why is the “born-free” generation of KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa abstaining from electing? a theory-consuming approached is used. Theories are going to be used as tools to analyse the empirical materials, which consist of 12 interviews. The cornerstones of the theory are Verba’s explanations of youth electoral participation with three variables (school, family, church) and how those variables influence youth. The result was that the variables had different influences on the youths, and that almost all of the respondent were voting and had a good understanding of democracy and politics.