The typical voting age around the world is eighteen. One of the arguments against lowering the voting age to sixteen is that individuals under eighteen potentially lack the appropriate political knowledge for voting. I study whether having the right to vote in itself can stimulate young people to acquire political knowledge, that is, if youths who are given the right to vote ‘rise to the occasion’. Such a dynamic effect would increase the likelihood that sixteen year olds will attain the requisite level of knowledge by the time they cast their vote, but would not guarantee this outcome, since an invidiual’s initial level of political knowledge is the most important factor for informed voting.

Publication details and link to source: Olof Rosenqvist, Rising to the Occasion? Youth Political Knowledge and the Voting Age, British Journal of Political Science, 2017