10. Slovenian and Croatian Youth and Their Civic and Political Participation

Authors

Andrej Naterer
University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5947-8808
Anja Gvozdanović
Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1213-5928
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18690/um.ff.7.2025.10

Synopsis

This chapter investigates civic and political participation among youth in Croatia and Slovenia, with a focus on trends before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using survey and qualitative data, it reveals persistently low levels of institutional political engagement, particularly in Croatia, where trust in political institutions remains among the lowest in the EU. Slovenian youth demonstrate slightly higher but still modest levels of electoral participation, with generational disillusionment evident in both contexts. At the same time, non-institutional forms of engagement, such as protests, online activism, and issue-based mobilisation, have grown, especially around environmental, social justice, and corruption-related concerns. The pandemic accelerated the use of digital tools for political expression, though digital activism rarely translated into sustained offline participation. Structural barriers, including precarious employment and weak civic education, further limit youth engagement, while many express feelings of political inefficacy and marginalisation. Policy implications call for stronger investment in civic education, mechanisms for youth-inclusive decision-making, and platforms that bridge online and offline participation to revitalise democratic trust and empower young citizens.

Author Biographies

Andrej Naterer, University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts

Dr. Andrej Naterer, is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Sociology, University of Maribor. His research focuses on children and youth, youth deviance and delinquency, and small-scale communities. He has participated in over 20 projects as a manager, researcher, or consultant. His work primarily employs qualitative methods, content analysis, and anthropological approaches. He is the author of numerous scientific books and articles and editor of the Subcultures series. He is a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Post-Socialist Societies (CePSS) and a member of several professional associations and international editorial boards.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: andrej.naterer@um.si

Anja Gvozdanović, Institute for Social Research in Zagreb

Dr. Anja Gvozdanović, is a Senior Research Associate in sociology at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. She is co-author and co-editor of six books and has published over twenty scientific papers, book chapters, and professional articles on political culture, social capital, youth values, social trust, reconciliation, and peace-building in Croatia and the Western Balkans. She has participated in 15 research projects, including leadership of three national and three international projects. Since 2023, she has served as Vice-President of the Croatian Sociological Association, contributing actively to the development of sociological research and academic collaboration.

Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: anja@idi.hr

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Volume

Two Countries, One Crisis: The YO-VID22 Pandemic Study

Pages

239-276

Published

September 3, 2025

Categories

Copyright (c) 2025 University of Maribor, University of Maribor Press

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Naterer, A., & Gvozdanović, A. (2025). 10. Slovenian and Croatian Youth and Their Civic and Political Participation. In A. Naterer & D. Potočnik (Eds.), Two Countries, One Crisis: The YO-VID22 Pandemic Study (pp. 239-276). University of Maribor Press. https://doi.org/10.18690/um.ff.7.2025.10