CountUsIn

Why young people are giving up on democracy — and five ways to fix it.

Out of 100 young Slovenians, only 13 voted in the last national election.

This is not laziness. It's a system that stopped listening.

13Voted

87 stayed home

Who we are

Meet Team 8

Three countries. One question: why did our generation stop showing up — and what would bring us back?

[FULL NAME]

[SI / EE / PT][ROLE — research / design / pitch]

[ONE-LINE FUN FACT OR WHY THEY CARE]

[FULL NAME]

[SI / EE / PT][ROLE — research / design / pitch]

[ONE-LINE FUN FACT OR WHY THEY CARE]

[FULL NAME]

[SI / EE / PT][ROLE — research / design / pitch]

[ONE-LINE FUN FACT OR WHY THEY CARE]

[FULL NAME]

[SI / EE / PT][ROLE — research / design / pitch]

[ONE-LINE FUN FACT OR WHY THEY CARE]

The stakes

Why does this matter?

Democracy is not a machine that runs on its own. It runs on people showing up — voting, speaking, volunteering, arguing, fixing things.

When young people step back, three things happen. Decisions get made about us, without us. The problems that hit us hardest — housing, jobs, climate — slide down the agenda. And the habit dies: political science shows voting is habit-forming, so someone who skips their first elections tends to stay home for life.

Active citizenship isn't a school subject. It's the difference between being governed and taking part.

We researched ten problems across Slovenia, Estonia and Portugal. These are the five a youth team can actually move — each one paired with a solution, a price tag, and a name of who has to act.

The work

Fiveproblems,fivesolutions

Each problem is paired with the fix that answers it — how it gets built, what it costs, and who has to act. Cost figures are our own order-of-magnitude estimates, marked est., not sourced statistics.

Problem 01

Young people don't vote

Slovenia: only 13% of under-30s voted in 2022. Portugal: ~14% of under-25s in the 2024 EU elections. Estonia votes by phone — and youth still vote least.

13%of under-30s voted · Slovenia 2022

Solution 01

Guaranteed Response

Every local issue raised by a young person gets an official answer within 30 days — publicly tracked. Wins prove that speaking up works, and people who win come back to vote.

How it worksStart with one pilot municipality and its youth council. Young people submit local issues through a simple public form; the municipality commits to an official answer within 30 days, and every issue's status — received, answered, in progress, fixed — is published on an open tracker. After one year, publish the response rates and expand city by city.

est.under €15,000 for a one-year, one-city pilot — a part-time coordinator plus a basic public tracker. The commitment itself costs nothing.

Implemented by: municipalities + youth councils (MSS · ENL · CNJ)

Problem 02

Young people don't trust politicians

Most feel their voice changes nothing. Around 1 in 3 young Slovenians trusts no political institution at all (2019 study). Distrust — not laziness — is the documented driver of youth non-voting across the EU.

1 in 3trusts no political institution · Slovenia, 2019 study

Solution 02

The Public Scorecard

One open register showing how every politician responds to citizens: answered or ignored, promised or delivered. Trust stops being blind — it becomes earned.

How it worksThe national youth council partners with independent journalists or a fact-checking organisation. Together they compile only public, verifiable information — response times, answers given, promises kept — into one register, updated monthly. It covers offices and public duties, never private lives, and editorial independence from every party is written into its charter.

est.€5,000–10,000 for year one — a small website plus volunteer and student researchers; fundable through existing youth-participation grants.

Implemented by: national youth councils + independent journalists

Problem 03

Politics has almost no young faces

Only 2.2% of Slovenia's MPs are young (2020). The average EU Parliament member is 50. Parties put young candidates on lists — in positions that can't win.

2.2%young MPs in Slovenia 2020 · avg MEP: 50

Solution 03

The Winnable Seats Pledge

Parties publicly commit to placing under-30 candidates in winnable positions — and a Youth List Index shows who kept their word.

How it worksBefore each election, youth organisations invite every party to sign the pledge. Once candidate lists are published, the Youth List Index scores each party — pledge versus reality — and is released to the media two weeks before the vote. In parallel, paid shadowing placements with local councillors give young people a real pipeline into politics, funded through existing Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps schemes.

est.the pledge is free; the index costs roughly €5,000 per election cycle for analysis and publication.

Implemented by: political parties + youth organisations

Problem 04

Fake news is winning

76% of young Europeans have seen disinformation; only 18% are confident they can spot it (2024). Social media is the #1 news source for 42% of them.

76%exposed · only 18% sure they can spot it · 2024

Solution 04

Spot the Fake, in Every School

One short, game-based media-literacy lesson a month, inside existing civics classes, using real local fake news.

How it worksMinistries of education add a 30-minute lesson per month from age 12 — no new subject, no new staff. Fact-checking organisations supply a rolling set of real, recent examples in Slovenian, Estonian, Portuguese and Russian, so students train on what is actually circulating instead of textbook cases. Teachers receive a ready-made kit. Estonia's top-tier civic-knowledge scores prove literacy can be taught at scale.

est.a one-time development budget in the low tens of thousands of euros per country; per-school delivery is near zero because it lives inside existing lessons.

Implemented by: ministries of education + fact-checkers

Problem 05

Some young people can't vote at all

In Estonia, 60,000+ residents hold "grey passports" — no citizenship, no ballot, ever. In 2025, even local voting rights for third-country nationals were removed.

60,000+stateless residents in Estonia

Solution 05

A Path to the Ballot

Bilingual guidance on the rights non-citizens already have — plus a simpler citizenship track for young people born in Estonia.

How it worksStep one is information: a bilingual (Estonian/Russian) guide, co-designed with Russian-speaking youth, explaining existing rights and walking through naturalisation step by step, distributed through minority youth organisations within months. Step two is policy: a simplified citizenship track for young people born and schooled in Estonia — the ask this presentation directs at parliament. Growing up in a country should lead to a vote in it.

est.€10,000–15,000 for the guide (content, translation, outreach); the policy change costs administration, not budgets.

Implemented by: Estonian government + minority youth organisations

Receipts

Sources