Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan

This study aims to analyze the factors influencing youth political participation, focusing on the role of political culture, transforming youth activities, patriotism, and civic responsibility in the context of developing democracies. Using data collected from 350 young people across five major univ...

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Main Authors: Zaure Baizhumakyzy, Nazira Tangkish, Saken Mazhinbekov, Zhandos Sarsenbekov, Saipzhamal Korganova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Political Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1561187/full
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author Zaure Baizhumakyzy
Nazira Tangkish
Saken Mazhinbekov
Zhandos Sarsenbekov
Saipzhamal Korganova
author_facet Zaure Baizhumakyzy
Nazira Tangkish
Saken Mazhinbekov
Zhandos Sarsenbekov
Saipzhamal Korganova
author_sort Zaure Baizhumakyzy
collection DOAJ
description This study aims to analyze the factors influencing youth political participation, focusing on the role of political culture, transforming youth activities, patriotism, and civic responsibility in the context of developing democracies. Using data collected from 350 young people across five major universities in the large cities of Kazakhstan, we employed structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. The results reveal that political culture significantly influences political participation, and this relationship is strengthened by civic responsibility, but not by patriotic sentiment. Interestingly, while youth with strong democratic values actively participate in political processes, they prefer to work within existing institutional frameworks rather than engage in transformative activities. This study provides theoretical and practical recommendations for increasing political engagement among the youth in Kazakhstan. Unlike existing studies that focus on institutional forms of youth participation, this study is the first to systematically analyze the role of civic responsibility and patriotism and their links to political culture and political participation, which opens new perspectives for understanding the mechanisms of youth engagement in the political process in emerging democracies.
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issn 2673-3145
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Political Science
spelling doaj-art-43dbee83e4f945c1b1971de004bf150f2025-08-20T02:42:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Political Science2673-31452025-07-01710.3389/fpos.2025.15611871561187Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in KazakhstanZaure Baizhumakyzy0Nazira Tangkish1Saken Mazhinbekov2Zhandos Sarsenbekov3Saipzhamal Korganova4Department of Political Science and Social and Philosophical Disciplines, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Almaty, KazakhstanDepartment of Political Science, M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, KazakhstanDepartment of Political Science, M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, KazakhstanDepartment of Political Science, M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, KazakhstanDepartment of Political Science, M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University, Shymkent, KazakhstanThis study aims to analyze the factors influencing youth political participation, focusing on the role of political culture, transforming youth activities, patriotism, and civic responsibility in the context of developing democracies. Using data collected from 350 young people across five major universities in the large cities of Kazakhstan, we employed structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. The results reveal that political culture significantly influences political participation, and this relationship is strengthened by civic responsibility, but not by patriotic sentiment. Interestingly, while youth with strong democratic values actively participate in political processes, they prefer to work within existing institutional frameworks rather than engage in transformative activities. This study provides theoretical and practical recommendations for increasing political engagement among the youth in Kazakhstan. Unlike existing studies that focus on institutional forms of youth participation, this study is the first to systematically analyze the role of civic responsibility and patriotism and their links to political culture and political participation, which opens new perspectives for understanding the mechanisms of youth engagement in the political process in emerging democracies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1561187/fullpolitical participationyouth engagementpolitical culturedemocratic developmentpolitical socializationcivic education
spellingShingle Zaure Baizhumakyzy
Nazira Tangkish
Saken Mazhinbekov
Zhandos Sarsenbekov
Saipzhamal Korganova
Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan
Frontiers in Political Science
political participation
youth engagement
political culture
democratic development
political socialization
civic education
title Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan
title_full Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan
title_fullStr Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan
title_full_unstemmed Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan
title_short Fostering democratic engagement: factors shaping youth political participation in Kazakhstan
title_sort fostering democratic engagement factors shaping youth political participation in kazakhstan
topic political participation
youth engagement
political culture
democratic development
political socialization
civic education
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1561187/full
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AT naziratangkish fosteringdemocraticengagementfactorsshapingyouthpoliticalparticipationinkazakhstan
AT sakenmazhinbekov fosteringdemocraticengagementfactorsshapingyouthpoliticalparticipationinkazakhstan
AT zhandossarsenbekov fosteringdemocraticengagementfactorsshapingyouthpoliticalparticipationinkazakhstan
AT saipzhamalkorganova fosteringdemocraticengagementfactorsshapingyouthpoliticalparticipationinkazakhstan