Too young to run? Young political candidates and the 2020 Victorian local government elections

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the demographics, party affiliation, political motivations, and personal experiences of young people in Australia who run for elected office. By analysing a survey conducted with 51 young political candidates who ran in the 2020 Victorian local government elections, we show that that the most under-represented groups include young women, young people with Indigenous heritage or from minority ethnic backgrounds, and young people who do not have tertiary education and/or who live outside the metropolitan region. Our study also demonstrates that while a majority of young candidates were political party members, only relatively few ran as a candidate of their party. Finally, we highlight the link between age (youth orientation) and effectiveness (political efficacy) among our respondents.

本文从人口统计、政党认同、政治动机、个人经历等角度，对澳大利亚竞选公职的年轻人做了分析。本文所根据的是一项对2020年51位竞选地方政府公职的年轻政治候选人的调查。我们的调查分析显示，代表程度最低的群体包括年轻女性、原住或少数族裔青年、未受过高等教育或未生活在都市的青年。我们的研究还表明，虽然多数青年候选人为政党成员，但只有少数人是政党推出的候选人。最后，我们特别指出了受访者中年龄（青年取向）和效能（政治功效）之间的联系。

KEYWORDS:

• Young people
• running for office
• local government
• electoral campaigns

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the young political candidates who took the time to respond to our survey, and the two anonymous reviewers who provided really helpful suggestions that have sharpened this article’s analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mark Chou

Mark Chou is an associate professor of politics at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.

Lesley Pruitt

Lesley Pruitt is a senior lecturer in development studies at the University of Melbourne.

Luke Dean

Luke Dean is a graduate student in politics at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.