The Voice of the Future: Adolescents and Their Trust in State Institutions 

Linde Stals is a PhD researcher at the Center for Voting and Democracy, KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research explores the development of political trust among adolescents and its impact on their political behavior. 

Citation: Stals, L. (2024). The voice of the future: Adolescents and their trust in state institutions. TRUEDEM Blog. https://www.truedem.eu/blog/blog3

Introduction

During the Belgian national elections of June 9, 2024, over half a million young people aged 18 to 22, about 7% of the electorate, voted for the first time. In the run-up to the election results, I therefore explored a few relevant research questions: How do younger generations evaluate our state institutions? Do they trust the political system, and is this trust based on rational considerations? What role do schools and teachers play in shaping political trust? And how might adolescents’ political trust influence election results?

To answer these questions, I analyzed three studies on adolescents. In 2016, Flanders (the northern Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) participated for the third and so far last time in the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), an international comparative study on citizenship and civic education among students in their second year of secondary school (age 14 on average). In the same year, the Flemish government conducted the Flemish Survey on Civic Engagement among students in their final year of secondary school (age 18 on average) (FSCE 2016). While the samples for both studies were composed differently, largely the same questions and response scales were used. This allows for a degree of comparison between Flemish 14- and 18-year-olds. A third source is the Ghent study, which in 2018 investigated the voting behavior of 15- to 20-year-olds and one of their parents using mock elections in Ghent (Belgium). What do these studies teach us about the development of political trust among young people and the possible implications for the current political system? Discover the key findings below.

Political Trust as Source for Democratic Legitimacy

Within political science literature, the evaluative approach to political trust defines it as an evaluation of the trustworthiness of state institutions’ based on criteria such as competence, integrity, transparency, and the prioritization of public interests. Political trust is crucial for democratic legitimacy, as it has been robustly related to greater voluntary acceptance of political decisions, law compliance, and voter turnout (Devine, 2024). Among the Belgian adult population, trends in political trust reveal a fluctuating pattern: while trust in political institutions remains low, there are periods of both decline and recovery.

Among Belgian adolescents, a similar volatility in trust levels is evident. However, adolescents have less direct experiences with political processes and politicians, and generally show lower interest in politics compared to adults. This raises important questions on how adolescents develop their trust in state institutions, and whether we can assume that these evaluations are rational. I turn to the ICCS 2016 and FSCE 2016 studies to answer these questions. Both studies assessed political trust by asking students to rate their trust in seven institutions using a four-point scale ("completely," "somewhat," "a little," or "not at all"). These institutions represent two major branches of the political system. The first category includes representative institutions such as political parties, the federal parliament, the Flemish parliament, and the federal government, which are inherently political entities, tasked with shaping legislation and characterized by political competition and partisanship. The second category comprises implementation and order institutions, such as the courts, the police, and the military, which are responsible for enforcing laws and generally perceived as neutral and nonpartisan. When comparing 14-year-olds to 18-year-olds, three interesting findings emerge.

The two-dimensional nature of political trust

A first key finding shows that young people trust order institutions, particularly political parties, less than order institutions. While about 80% of 14-year-olds report trusting the courts, the army, and the police, less than half trusts political parties. Among 18-year-olds, trust in political parties drops even further to 29%. This distinction between representative and order institutions already demonstrates a certain level of rationality in adolescents' judgments. Rather than viewing the political system as a monolithic block, they recognize clear differences between subsystems and assess them based on their own merits (Stals et al., 2024). The fact that even early adolescents distinguish between these institutional branches suggests that from a young age, they possess a basic understanding of the distinct roles played by institutions like the police and parliament, which influences their trust levels.

Growing Older, Trusting Less?

Second, 18-year-olds exhibit significantly lower trust in these seven institutions than 14-year-olds. While these data do not allow for conclusions about the relationship between age and political trust, previous research suggests that these differences between early and late adolescents are unsurprising. Panel studies in Belgium and the Netherlands reveal similar trends, with political trust decreasing during adolescence, particularly in representative institutions (Hooghe et al., 2015; van Slageren et al., 2022). Although period effects, such as political crises, must be taken into account, earlier studies indicate that younger generations have generally become more critical of traditional political structures, and that this skepticism may be reinforced as one gains greater exposure to politics. This might be due to an increased awareness of the negative aspects of politics, including inefficiency, hierarchical structures, political scandals, a lack of young representatives, and limited attention to youth issues, all of which can erode political trust. However, the relationship between age and political trust remains complex. Mixed findings in the literature highlight the potential influence of generational and period effects, making it challenging to determine how political trust evolves with age.

Teachers, like police officers, are 'street-level bureaucrats' who play a crucial role in shaping young people's political trust through their daily interactions.

The final trend relates to explaining political trust among Flemish 14-year-olds. In this group, differences in trust levels cannot be explained by background characteristics such as socioeconomic background, gender, or migration background. So, what drives variations in trust among early adolescents? In my research, I focus on the role of teachers and education, particularly how interactions with teachers and classmates and political knowledge shape political trust. My analyses reveal two key findings (Stals & Ziemes, 2024). First, positive and fair relationships with peers and teachers are strong, positive predictors of political trust. Students who feel safe at school, maintain respectful and positive relationships with friends, and feel treated fairly by teachers are more likely to trust the political system. This suggests that young people begin forming trust or distrust in political institutions early on by extrapolating their experiences with peers and teachers to the broader political system. Second, while 14-year-olds generally evaluate the reliability of political institutions accurately, students with more political knowledge perform this task even  better. Indeed, the relationship between political knowledge and trust varies by context. In well-functioning democracies, young people with greater political knowledge tend to exhibit higher political trust, while in flawed democracies, this group of informed youth displays lower trust. This finding supports the 'norm- and accuracy-inducing function' of education (Mayne & Hakhverdian, 2017). Highly educated and politically knowledgeable citizens are better equipped to assess whether democratic institutions are functioning well or when corruption is present. Moreover, this group strongly endorses democratic values and principles, making them more normatively troubled by political misconduct. Education and the quality of democracy thus interact in shaping political trust.

While similar patterns have been observed among adults, confirming these findings among younger citizens underscores the critical role of early political socialization in shaping citizens’ ability to critically evaluate political institutions and advocate for change when necessary. Teachers and schools, as non-political authorities, play a crucial role in this process. The way teachers treat their students might serve as a reflection of how citizens are treated by political actors. Furthermore, teachers are instrumental in fostering political interest and knowledge among young people – a process that should begin at an early age to cultivate informed and engaged citizens.

Distrustful voters, both young and old, are more easily swayed by anti-establishment parties

Finally, how might political trust influence elections results? Research on adults shows that political trust is not only an evaluation but also has significant behavioral consequences. Distrustful citizens not only vote less but are also more likely to cast protest votes by voting blank or supporting populist, radical, or opposition parties. This pattern has been confirmed in both the ICCS 2016 and the Ghent study. Specifically, among Flemish 14-year-olds, those with lower trust in representative institutions are less motivated to vote but are more likely to participate in protests and grassroots movements (Stals et al., 2022). Regarding voting behaviour, the Ghent study shows that distrustful youth are more easily persuaded by far-right parties, while their distrustful parents lean toward both ideological extremes.

As such, political trust – reflecting the perceived trustworthiness of state institutions –can have profound implications for the future representativeness and legitimacy of the political system. Beyond the evidence from adults, we now have empirical evidence that adolescents with lower political trust already indicate, at a young age, that they are likely to abstain from voting or cast a radical vote. Hence, the failure to strengthen the trustworthiness of political institutions, particularly among the youngest voters, could have far-reaching consequences for future voter turnout and the electoral landscape in Flanders.