Study 4: on promoting greater Citizen participation in Electoral Democracy in South Africa
Abstract
It is widely acknowledged, not only in South Africa, but also globally, that electoral democracy is in recession, with declining voter participation during elections. This trend appears to be particularly prevalent amongst the youth, a group that has also seen declining levels of registration. The proposed mixed-methods study will address the widespread challenge of declining voter turnout in elections currently facing South Africa???s electoral democracy. The study will explore the factors impacting voter participation and low voter turnout during elections in South Africa. It will focus on the youth, a group that is under-represented in the Voter Participation Survey. A special focus will be on those in poor communities who have not registered and who plan to abstain from the 2024 NPE. The study will identify strategies to address low voter turnout and increase voter registration.
The first component of the study will consist of an online survey using the Moya Messenger App. Data-free to the user, the Moya Messenger App has an active subscriber base of several million South Africans from across a broad swathe of the socio-economic and population spectrum. The sample will be restricted to citizens who are between 18 and 35 years of age. The survey will gather data on the factors underlying planned voter abstentions in the 2024 NPE. This will be crucial in terms of understanding the preferences and experiences of those planning to abstain from upcoming elections.
The second component will be a follow-up to the Your Voice, Your Choice (YVYC) pilot project which was completed in 2019 . The purpose of the 2019 YVYC intervention was to empower young adults by increasing their voter awareness as a means to promote civic engagement. YVYC used innovative participatory methodologies to engage young people in dialogues to capture their view of the political landscape of South Africa. In the second phase of the YVYC, the original 2019 YVYC cohort will be convened for a series of reflective Focus Group Discussions (wherein they will also engage with findings from the pilot phase). This cohort will also lead civic engagement dialogues with other young people in their communities. This group will then be recruited to engage in Social Network Interviews (SNIs) with community members. SNI is an emancipatory methodological research and intervention innovation.
