‘It’s better to just listen’: Three dichotomies regarding young citizens’ democratic self-confidence

This article focuses on the challenges of being young, well-informed, democratic
citizens and distrusting one’s ability to develop democratic self-confidence. This
notion is framed by intersecting conditions based on norms of democratic citizenship, information practices and democratic values. Empirically, the article draws
on interviews with 16–24-year-old Danes. Three dichotomies frame the article’s
contribution: (1) The informants are interested and well-informed. However, lacking confidence in their abilities to gain and understand enough information for
engaged citizenship affects their democratic self-confidence. (2) The informants
demonstrate trust concerning democracy and democratic engagement. Still, the
lack of democratic self-confidence affects their actual and perceived democratic
participation. (3) The third dichotomy demonstrates that informants orientate
globally through online spaces, but democratic deliberation preferably takes place
in offline, private safe gardens. These contextual factors impact the direction of
potential democratic innovation. If young citizens are to be innovative agents in a
democratic society, new fora and formats for civic engagement must evolve.