MTV has always encouraged young people  to take part in an active way in their society and to make their voices heard. With Italian Elections being held in late February, MTV Italy decided to launch the ‘OSSERVATORIO SULLA POLITICA’ in order to analyze the relationship between young people and politics in depth.

Check out the video (in Italian) by clicking here [may be geo-blocked].

We have results from the first two waves of research, and the plan is to go to field with one more wave after the vote.

Here some of the highlights so far:

Politicians, who?

There is a general lack of trust in politicians amongst 18-34s.  Scandals that have affected Italian politics during the last years have left the impression that politicians tend to advocate good behavior for others and yet not living up to these guidelines themselves. That is the reason why young Italians consider the world of politics as a corrupted one, where politicians were felt to pursue their own interests and gain.

According to Italian 18-34s, politicians continue failing to respond to young people’s concerns because they don’t have the right skillset (74% of respondents), they have obtained their job not for meritocracy (67%) and they are too much “old-style” (60%).

A generation turned away from politics?

Around 74% of respondents are unconnected with politics, with more than half (51%) falling within the ‘apathetic’, i.e.  people who do not take notice of political issues in an active way.  On the other hand, only 2% of the sample is highly interested and connected with politics.

The perception of a corrupted political world (57% of respondents) and a general sense of disillusion (54%) are by far the most important cited reasons for not taking part into politics.

Abstention: a new way to protest?

In this difficult situation, 73% of 18-34s find abstention as an effective way to protest against the political system and to make their voice heard.

Yes we can!

Although young Italians are quite disillusioned, they never give up because they believe in change. In fact, 49% of them think that is possible to drive and influence change using knowledge about politics.

45% of respondents use internet and social media to gather information and to express their opinions about political issues.

The ideal politics

Young Italians desire a radical change in politics: they want to be represented by politicians who are honest (81% of respondents), clear (66%) and reliable (65%). Among the most important issues to be solved by the new political class they cite youth unemployment and economic and financial turmoil.

You can read more about the study on the IO Voto website at https://iovoto.mtv.it/ or by clicking here for a story from Italy’s Corriere della sera newspaper.

The second wave of research focused on the comparison between ideal politics and real offer. Italian newspaper La Stampa supported the release of this wave.

La ricerca si Mtv: il comico raccoglie molti consensi, però non è “affidabile.”Dal vuoto al voto. Vuoto di speranze, ma soprattutto vuoto di fiducia. Quella che i giovani hanno perso e faticano a ritrovare nei confronti della politica e, in particolare, dei politici.

Read the full report here by Marco Bresolin.

Italian Huffington Post also covered the study here.