Does lowering the voting age spark meaningful political participation among young people? Using a quasi-experiment from Ghent, Belgium where youth could vote starting at 16, this research compares adolescents granted voting rights with those just below the age cutoff. Data & Methods

We analyze survey data collected before and after the implementation of the vote-at-16 policy in Ghent.

Key Findings

* Eligibility increased attention to politics among 16-year-olds.

* However, this did not translate into significantly higher overall political engagement compared to those just below 18 years old.

The findings suggest that while formal voting rights at 16 may draw adolescents' interest temporarily or towards certain aspects of politics, they do not necessarily lead to broader involvement in the political process. This nuance is important for understanding how adolescent political attitudes evolve around specific eligibility thresholds.