Democracy's not for me: The Lowy Institute polls on Gen Y and democracy

Abstract

For two consecutive years, the Lowy Institute Poll has revealed just how little Australians seem to value democracy. This has particularly been the case for Australia's so-called Generation Y. Understandably, these findings have aroused dismay among media, policy and academic commentators, with many automatically assuming the troubling nature of these findings. Despite this, little consideration has been given to what the results actually denote, and what they were not telling us about the rationale and justification behind the Gen Y responses. This critical commentary offers some preliminary thoughts and findings on what the Lowy Polls are not telling us; as well as on what they are telling us.

连续两年，罗伊民调所发现澳大利亚人对民主评价极低。澳大利亚所谓的“Y一代”尤其如此。可以想见，这样的发现让媒体以及政策和学术评论者失望不已，许多人会马上想到这些发现会造成的麻烦。其实，很少有人思考这类发现的真实所指，思考关于Y一代反应所没有讲出的东西。这篇批评性文章提供了一些初步的想法和发见：罗伊民调除了讲了什么，它还没讲什么？

Keywords:

• democracy
• Generation Y
• polls