Young people and online political participation in Turkey: the activities of students during the 2015 Turkish general election

This study examines the phenomenon of online political participation amongst Turkish students, against the backdrop of 2015 general elections, and increased levels of mobilisation of public views and unconventional types of participation using the Internet. To address the research questions, the researcher adopted a combination of surveys and focus group discussions to understand the determinants, motivations and deterrents of political sophistication, political knowledge and political participation, particularly entailing unconventional participation. This study was interested in understanding the influence of factors like gender, religion, and activism and whether they are factors that determine the overall predisposition of the youth to online participation. The research found in the levels of political participation, knowledge and perception when controlling for the aforementioned factors. Put succinctly, resources, mobilisation and psychological engagement emerged as the key influencers of online political participation. This, in turn confirms the arguments in which young citizens’ political participation help explain the recent developments in Turkey's political scenario involving protests, mobilisations and expression of independent views through the Internet. Moreover, it was found that while the youth do not have unrealistically high expectations from the Internet in enforcing lasting changes in their country, they are becoming increasingly hopeful and comfortable using the Internet, especially social media to express themselves politically.