Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office

Promoting youth representation in parliaments is a growing global priority. To promote youth leadership and more inclusive politics, youth organizations in Nigeria mobilized successfully for a constitutional reform to lower the eligibility age to run for political office. In this paper, we draw on g...

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Main Authors: Mona Lena Krook, Mary K. Nugent
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tübingen University 2018-12-01
Series:Intergenerational Justice Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://igjr.org/ojs/index.php/igjr/article/view/702
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author Mona Lena Krook
Mary K. Nugent
author_facet Mona Lena Krook
Mary K. Nugent
author_sort Mona Lena Krook
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description Promoting youth representation in parliaments is a growing global priority. To promote youth leadership and more inclusive politics, youth organizations in Nigeria mobilized successfully for a constitutional reform to lower the eligibility age to run for political office. In this paper, we draw on global data to assess whether lower eligibility ages will in fact lead to higher levels of youth participation. We find that lower age requirements positively affect the representation of the youngest and next youngest cohorts in parliament. We draw on qualitative interviews and gender literature to theorize that lower age limits have immediate and longer-term “mobilizing effects”, shifting the calculations of potential candidates in terms of the age at which they first decide to run for office.
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spelling doaj-art-8b96e7e363f447d59b8ee78f34d0e1292025-02-10T05:00:26ZengTübingen UniversityIntergenerational Justice Review2190-63352018-12-0142Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected officeMona Lena Krook0Mary K. Nugent1Rutgers UniversityRutgers UniversityPromoting youth representation in parliaments is a growing global priority. To promote youth leadership and more inclusive politics, youth organizations in Nigeria mobilized successfully for a constitutional reform to lower the eligibility age to run for political office. In this paper, we draw on global data to assess whether lower eligibility ages will in fact lead to higher levels of youth participation. We find that lower age requirements positively affect the representation of the youngest and next youngest cohorts in parliament. We draw on qualitative interviews and gender literature to theorize that lower age limits have immediate and longer-term “mobilizing effects”, shifting the calculations of potential candidates in terms of the age at which they first decide to run for office.https://igjr.org/ojs/index.php/igjr/article/view/702YouthYoung peoplePoliticsParliamentNigeria
spellingShingle Mona Lena Krook
Mary K. Nugent
Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office
Intergenerational Justice Review
Youth
Young people
Politics
Parliament
Nigeria
title Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office
title_full Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office
title_fullStr Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office
title_full_unstemmed Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office
title_short Not Too Young to Run? Age requirements and young people in elected office
title_sort not too young to run age requirements and young people in elected office
topic Youth
Young people
Politics
Parliament
Nigeria
url https://igjr.org/ojs/index.php/igjr/article/view/702
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AT maryknugent nottooyoungtorunagerequirementsandyoungpeopleinelectedoffice