“THEY ARE SMALL, YET THEY ARE BIG...” SHOULD THE AGE LIMIT FOR ACQUIRING ACTIVE VOTING RIGHTS BE LOWERED?

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the issue of lowering the voting age, i.e., the age for granting active suffrage. Over the past decade or so, in countries that have lowered the voting age from 18 to 16, several studies have been published attempting to examine some of the arguments commonly raised in normative debates about the advantages and disadvantages of lowering the voting age. These studies address the situations in individual countries and represent a valuable contribution to insights and discussions on the topic. However, within the academic literature, there are few analyses attempting to synthesize the main results of these studies and draw more general conclusions, which is precisely the main goal of this paper. Based on a review and analysis of research conducted in Austria, Scotland, Germany, and Norway, the respective results are presented and synthesized, and attempts are made to draw certain conclusions. The studies under scrutiny corroborate the arguments in favour of lowering the voting age much more strongly than the arguments against lowering the age limit for gaining active suffrage.