The voter survey from the municipal elections in 2023 leaves no doubt, according to Statistics Norway (SSB):
The change in political attitudes among the youngest is marked. Just look here:
- 58 per cent of men between the ages of 20 and 24 voted for the Conservative Party or FRP.
- 30 percent of women of the same age voted for the same parties.
- The red-greens would have gained a majority if only women under the age of 25 were asked.
Strong polarization
It is now a fact that female voters are more left-leaning than male voters, but among the youngest this is far more polarized, the Statistics Norway survey shows.
– The divisive value policy polarizes very strongly on gender, and it is a disaster for the red-green team, says Magnus Marsdal, responsible editor at Manifest Media, to FriFagbevegelse.
The skewed distribution among the youngest men and women is something Manifest strongly warns against.
– There is an ideological chasm that is opening up between young women and men in quite a new way. The reason why it is so disastrous for the left is that it splits the coalition which is absolutely necessary for us to be able to have a majority in elections and change society, says Marsdal.
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Conservative and right-wing
The pattern is also the same in many other countries, according to the Manifest leader. There is a strong polarization in attitudes between young women and men which appears to be something new.
The split takes place in value politics and in matters of immigration and integration, but also when it comes to the MeToo wave, which triggered a lot of discussion about sexual harassment and the relationship between the sexes.
– Men are much more conservative and right-wing in matters of culture and gender, while women are increasingly progressive and move to the left in those matters, he explains.
According to Marsdal, it is extremely urgent to promote a powerful policy that unites people across the board. That is, an interest policy, or a class policy, which unites those who have less in relation to those who have more.
– It is the absence of a clearly unifying, mobilizing class policy that opens the political field for a divisive value policy in those voter groups, says the Manifest leader.
Majority politics that unites
He believes the following is a prerequisite for avoiding polarisation:
- The housing market must unite the many who are not rental barons and rich with those who make money from other people’s housing shortage.
- The labor market unites those who fight for wages and rights, but it must also include young people who occasionally fall outside the trade union movement.
- Power politics must unite the many with the few. In the current situation, the power companies who profit from what is an electricity price crisis for others will say so.
– In area after area there must be a unifying majority policy with the power to challenge the billionaires who sit in Switzerland and whine, even though they have received most of what they have pointed to, he says.
– The polarization trend on gender is very disturbing, and it is something the red-green team must look into in order to avoid the pattern taking root in Norwegian party politics, says Magnus Marsdal.
Current trends
A right-wing wind blew across the country in the election. The right received the most votes. 25.9 per cent against Aps 21.6, but it was Frp that had the greatest progress.
The increased interest among young people was one of the party’s biggest victories. 27 percent of men under the age of 25 now vote for Sylvi Listhaug’s party.
– Young voters are probably more influenced by current trends than older ones. It’s a perfect storm of differences that makes young people turn their backs on Labor and go over to the right, says Johannes Bergh, election researcher at the Institute for Social Research, to FriFagbevegelse.
When seven percent of men under the age of 25 voted for the Labor Party at the last election.
– The concern in recent years has been that young men do not participate in elections, but now it appears that they have found a party to vote for. This is due to the mobilization from the Conservative Party and FRP. The right-wing ran a successful election campaign and managed to appeal to young men, points out the election researcher.
Read also: This is why voters are fleeing the Labor parties
Equal society
The tendency is therefore for women and men of this age to separate political strata to a much greater extent than before.
– We live in a fairly equal society, but instead of the gender differences among voters becoming smaller, the opposite is happening. This is particularly evident among the youngest voters, Bergh points out.
Bergh believes that men and women are more divided in their views on immigration, climate and environment and identity politics such as equality now.
– The differences are only getting bigger, and they are biggest and most obvious among the youngest. It’s a trend that surprises me. Especially in a society with approximately equal opportunities for both sexes, he points out.
Counter reaction
Bergh points out that the climate issue is defining for the young generation and was most important to young voters at the last general election.
– Now there will be a strong backlash. Being in favor of continuing the search for oil and gas in new areas is an attitude that underpins political contradictions, he points out.
– Although climate and the environment are still an important issue for the young voters, some also think that this has gone too far, and then suddenly the political values become more polarized, says Bergh.
Also read: When the rooster crows, it’s time to wake up
Read also: Class + gender = boys without a chance in Norwegian schools. Where is the left in this debate?
Read also: There is a lot of talk about the big “boy problem”. The will to solve it seems almost absent
See collection page: The way forward for the left side
2024-02-02 05:00:00
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