An Analysis of Youth Electoral Participation in the Philippines

Date

6-2023

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Anna Floresca F. Firmalino

Committee Member

Jefferson A. Arapoc, Gideon P. Carnaje, Agham C. Cuevas

Abstract

This study attempts to provide an economic analysis of youth electoral participation in the Philippines. While the youth comprise a big share of the Philippines’ voting population, they are generally characterized by their abstention and indifference from political participation. With this, the study synthesizes Downs’ Rational Theory of Voter Behavior and the Socioeconomic Status Model to provide an understanding of the influences on youth’s decision to vote or not in elections. Specifically, it tests the significance of various political and socioeconomic variables on youth voter turnout in the 2022 local and national elections. The study employed the random sampling method among the eligible youth voters from the 23 cities and municipalities of the province of Cavite to come up with a proportional sample of the voting population.

Since voter registration is a requisite to voting in the Philippines, a Two-Stage Logistic regression analysis was employed with voter registration as the dependent variable for the first stage and the ease of registration as the instrumental variable, which was found to have a significant indirect effect on voter turnout. Results show that voter registration, political interest, political trust, and existing political involvement have a positive significant relationship with voter turnout while household income has a significant negative relationship with it. While political interest was found to affect the variation in turnout the most, the study therefore suggests intensifying opportunities for the youth to engage in civic activities for more awareness of current political affairs thereby increasing voter turnout from the sector.

Language

English

LC Subject

Elections -- Philippines

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2023 E2 O23

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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