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JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
A Research About the Youngs’ Voting Behavior in Local Elections: The Case of 2009, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Election
on welfare policies depending on proportional ways and this can effect political parties,
electrol systems and coordination of electoral institutions.
General elections form the basis of democracy represented in political systems. There-
fore, it is the democratic source of legitimacy of political power and has been approved
by the people through elections. It is possible to represent different social groups, even
if limited through elections, and a social equilibrium is formed (Damlapınar and Balcı,
2014:90-91). General election can supply mostly the result of a tighter relationship betwe-
en electoral competition and political selection (Gavoillea and Verscheldeb, 2016:10).
Local elections provide functional political participation due to their qualities such as cho-
ice, control and responsibility. Because the public has the possibility of direct representa-
tion in their decision-making with little spatial and social distance. There is a perception
in the form of “our president” in local elections. Voters can unquestionably lead to the
candidate that is viewed with their eyes. The diversity of alternatives in local elections is
sub-level, and this poses the danger of local dictatorship. So urbanization, democratiza-
tion and the protection of the public interest can be in dangerous. For example, in some
cities, there is no party and there is no activity that would suggest their views. Therefore,
cities should also be a symbol of political, economic and social diversity at the level of
local politics (Damlapınar and Balcı, 2014:92-93).
The referendum, which means a subject that needs to be explained, is a political science
literateture; a law has been accepted or rejected. The referendum usually comes in the
form of public approval of decisions of legislative bodies in extraordinary circumstances.
In Turkey’s political life, referendums are held in a general election mood (Damlapınar and
Balcı, 2014:97).
Factors Affecting Young Voters Choices in Turkey
The concept of youth is multidimensional and the meaning of this concept is quite high
volume in our daily life. As an age period, youth is a period in which fundamental chan-
ges in human life from biological and psychological aspects are experienced, especially
emotional intensity is increasing, and the individual is heading towards a psychosocial
phenomenon in terms of independence (Yaka, 2015:329). While the fertility rate of the
majority of European countries is well below the required level of 2.1, the rising fertility
rate in Turkey is triggering the increase of the population (Rakıcı and Yılmaz, 2016:66).
There is a bidirectional relationship between population growth and economic growth
and development. It is possible to explain the growth of the population by increasing the
population and it is possible to explain the growth rates of the population by increasing
the economic growth (Kaya and Yalçınkaya, 2014: 167).
Çavuşoğlu and Pekkaya (2016) after studying political behavior of young voters in local
elections at Bulent Ecevit University found that the factors of the candidate’s origin, such
