Samenvatting

Concerns exist that young citizens attach less importance to democracy compared to older citizens, yet comprehensive insight into how the young perceive and value democracy is scarce. Given that adolescence is a formative period for political attitudes, this is a pivotal life phase to examine how adolescents’ democratic support develops – especially in relation to education, which is an important driver of political attitudes. This study presents data from the Dutch Adolescent Panel on Democratic Values (DAPDV) study that follows adolescents during lower secondary education in the Netherlands. Findings reveal that Dutch adolescents largely embrace democratic values like freedom of speech, and support for representative or direct democracy. Interestingly, political and institutional trust show a decline, which can signal that support for politicians is not unconditional. From the beginning of secondary education, results show persistent educational differences in support for democratic values. This echoes existing educational cleavage in Dutch society regarding democratic support. These findings suggest that differences in democratic commitment manifest prior to secondary education and originate in students’ social and cultural backgrounds. The question remains whether secondary education perpetuates or diminishes these disparities, underlining the importance of future longitudinal research.