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Examination of Opinions on Reducing Young People’s Election Age To 18
JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
young people have the capacity to express themselves politically.
The mismatch between the ages of voting and candidacy is also a threat to countries
in the sense of strong democracy. An 18-year-old person can support and vote for
the people that s/he believes to be competent as a deputy. The idea that s/he cannot
rule the country also undermines youth’s confidence in politics. At the same time, this
situation reduces the representation of young people in parliament.
Lowering the age of candidacy to 18 enables the politics to become rejuvenated and
dynamic. Even if young people were not elected as deputies, they could gain experi-
ence and knowledge of politics in the candidacy periods in local domains or in party
organs. At the same time, the higher age average of members of parliament makes it
more difficult to make more radical and long-term decisions in parliament. Because,
with the advance of age, individuals become conservative. Conservatism can be ex-
plained in three ways in itself. First, to become religious; secondly, the status quo
advocacy; the third is the consolidation of the views held (Sitembölükbaşı, 2001).
Lowering the age of election to 18 is considered by some sectors as negative; people
with adequate professional knowledge and sophistication express that individuals
who do not have life experience cannot be deputies. But even if a deputy candidate
were 18 years old, it would be forgotten that the people who vote for them are these
young people and that these people should have the right to have candidacy. Even
if a young person were not a deputy, even if the deputy passed through the process
of nominating candidates or were unable to be nominated, s/he would gain political
experience at least. It is crucial to examine the views of young people on the issue of
lowering the age of candidacy to 18 in the light of this information. In this context we
investigate the views of young people about the age of candidacy which was lowered
to 18 in the 18th April 2017 referendum, and we discuss to what extent this change
may influence their future plans.
Method
In this part of the study, the study group, the data collection tool used in the study, the
data collection and analysis are included.
In this research, which is achieved through qualitative data collection techniques,
a semi-structured interview technique is used. Obviously, qualitative research deals
with processes more than products or outputs. Therefore, meanings are important in
qualitative researches (Merriam, 1988: Akt. Yilmaz & Altınkurt, 2011). Semi-structured
interviews are often preferred by researchers because of the certain level of standard
and flexibility they have. These interviews are based on writing and filling tests and
