In the fifth and final report on DAPDV results, we examine the perceptions of young people regarding the democratic rule of law among students in the fifth and sixth year of secondary school. This current report differs from the four previous ones, for a good reason. Our panel students in the vocational track (vmbo) have left secondary school after the fourth year, which means this report primarily focuses on students in the higher general secondary education track (havo) (up to year 5) and the pre-university education track (vwo) (up to year 6). To conclude six years of data collection, this report maps the full development of all students from year 1 to year 6.

Now that the project has been finalized, it is time to take stock. Three overarching conclusions summarize the key findings of the project. First, we see that students demonstrate a strong attachment to representative democracy throughout their entire secondary school career. This support for representative democracy as a form of governance also increases as students get older. At the same time, the results show that students increasingly reject governance by a single strong leader and limitations on current voting rights, while expressing broad support for freedom of expression.

However, this does not mean that all young people feel equally engaged in politics. Our second overarching conclusion is therefore that there are significant differences in political engagement among groups of students based on their level of education. For instance, students in the vocational track (vmbo) consistently feel less heard by politicians, have persistently less trust in officials, and are less likely to vote in the future compared to havo and vwo students. As these inequalities are already visible in the first year of secondary school and show little decrease over the years, the findings suggest that schools play only a limited role in reducing these differences. This implies that we must turn to the process of political socialization that occurs outside the classroom if we want to better understand similar educational-level disparities among adults.

While inequalities between groups of students remain constant, their perceptions certainly do not. Our results show that high school students are increasingly becoming politically mature. In most perceptions, there is a clear learning curve overall. Students become increasingly adept at aligning their attitudes with political developments and have a stronger belief in their understanding of politics as they get older. Additionally, they become better at determining which democratic values they find most important for themselves.

The full report is available here.

Finally, we would like to thank all participating students and schools, as well as all involved researchers, student assistants, and partners for making this research project possible.

In this fourth report, we examine young people's views on the democratic rule of law in the fourth year of secondary education. It is an important year, because this is the last year that we can compare all types of education: after this school year, in fact, our panel students in the pre-vocational track leave secondary education. It is also an interesting year, because we can finally see whether some of the trends we observed in the third year persist, or turned out to be a mere consequence of the 2021 parliamentary elections and the COVID-19 pandemic.

We draw two overarching conclusions. First, we see that students in year 4 are attached to democracy. They consider it as important to live in a democracy as they did in year 3. Representative democracy is still the most popular form of government. Adolescents also seem to think more positively about working in politics themselves, although political efficacy remains constant. In addition, young people talk more about politics and society with parents, teachers and friends than in previous years. Only the previously increased intention to vote later fell back to its level in year 2. At the same time, trust in officeholders remains lower than in years 1 and 2. Trust in politicians declines even further. Students' trust that politicians listen to people like them and their parents increased somewhat, but still much lower than in the first two years. Finally, we see that students in year 4 have begun to place somewhat more emphasis on the individual than on the community: more privacy over safety, more freedom of speech over not hurting others, or more getting your own way over obeying the law. This trend must be understood against the backdrop that young people mostly do not take outspoken positions.

The second overarching conclusion concerns persistent differences between groups. The major differences between education types VWO, HAVO and VMBO), which have been present since the beginning of high school, remain the most significant group difference. VWO students are the most attached to democracy, have the most political confidence and efficacy, report the highest propensity to vote, and have the most political ambition. Students in VMBO score much lower on all these characteristics by comparison. These differences already exist at the start of high school, and cannot be attributed to the school. They may be maintained in part by students' friend network: most of their best friends are from the same class. Also, young people express largely the same views on politics and society as their friends.

The full report is available here.

After an eventful year with parliamentary elections and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to take stock. How do students in secondary education currently perceive politics and democracy? In this third report of the Dutch Adolescent Panel on Democratic Values (DAPDV) project, we follow the development of students' attitudes and values in the first three years of secondary education.

Compared to previous years, the picture in the third year is more positive. Third-year students show stronger attachment to representative democracy, both in their values and behavioral intentions. This is evident, for example, in their increased importance placed on living in a democracy, higher intention to vote, and greater political knowledge, interest, and confidence in their own (political) abilities.

This does not mean that young people have blind trust in politics. Trust in (political) officeholders continues to decline, as does the belief that politicians listen to people like them and their parents. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing: a healthy democracy benefits from citizens being attached to democracy while maintaining a critical attitude towards political representatives.

Furthermore, students become more aware of their own position and self-interest in the third year of secondary education. Although they still actively choose for the community, they place slightly more emphasis on the individual compared to previous years. This is most visible in the discussion surrounding freedom of speech versus causing harm to others.

It is also noteworthy that the substantial inequalities based on educational track, which we already observed at the beginning of secondary school, persist. Similar to previous years, VWO students attach much greater importance to living in a democracy than VMBO students, are more likely to report an intention to vote, and have more political knowledge. Although the differences between educational tracks remain substantial, it is important to keep in mind that these attitudes are increasing across all tracks.

The full report is available here.

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What do students in the first year of secondary education think about democracy and politics? How do they view 'good' citizenship? And do they intend to vote when they are older?

These questions are extensively addressed in our first report of the DAPDV research. The report on the support for democratic values among first-year secondary school students was published on Friday 25th October 2019.

We kick off this publication with an article in the NRC.

The full publication is available here.