The Impacts of Undi 18 on Political Participation, Awareness and Readiness

  • Audrey Low Siang Ling Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Univeristy Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
  • Arnold Puyok Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Univeristy Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Keywords: Political socialization, Political participation, Political awareness, Political readiness, Youth, Undi 18

Abstract

The implementation of Undi18 on December 15, 2021, added an estimated 5.8 million new voters aged 18 and older to Malaysia's political landscape. While some see this as a timely move to introduce young people to civic responsibility and encourage active participation, others argue that 18-year-olds are too immature and have low awareness with only 29.03% of the youth participating in the political socialization domain. Consequently, it is crucial to assess the level of awareness and readiness among young people and their readiness to actively engage as voters. This study aimed to assess the level of youth awareness and readiness towards Undi18, examine the extent of their political participation, and analyse factors influencing their awareness and readiness. The study was conducted in Kuching, Sarikei, and Sri Aman, with 585 first-time voters aged 18 to 20 years surveyed via a questionnaire and 30 respondents in focus group discussions. The study found that parental involvement, political experience, social media exposure, educational exposure, and perception of and relationships with politicians were the five main factors influencing youth political participation and awareness and readiness towards Undi18. Geographical factors did not affect the level of awareness and readiness regarding Undi18. Despite the majority of respondents being aware of Undi18 and ready to participate as voters, a significant number were not prepared for higher forms of political participation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abdullah, M. (2020, December 12). Ahli politik punca belia di Malaysia kecewa dengan demokrasi - Tinjauan. Astro Awani. https://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/ahli-politik-punca-belia-di-malaysia-kecewa-dengan-demokrasi-tinjauan-272819

Ahmad, Z., & Zain, Z. M. (2021). Political involvement among youth in Malaysia: Lessons Learnt. International Journal of Media and Communication Research (IJMCR), 2(1), 11–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.25299/ijmcr.v2i1.6122

Abulencia, C. (2021, October 13). Why is education important and how does it affect one’s future? World Vision Canada. https://www.worldvision.ca/stories/education/why-is-education-important

Alcudia, A.K., Charr, I., Lorejo, M. A., Malila, J. M., & Mumar, M. T. (2020). Generation Z political awareness: Opinion and concerns [Research project, University of Mindanao]. Academia.edu. http://www.academia.edu/55309189/GENERATION_Z_POLITICALAWARENESS_OPINIONS_AND_CONCERNS

Anderson, I., & Kuswanto. (2021). The influence of political awareness, political socialization, and mass media on political participation in Jambi province. Jurnal Studi Sosial Dan Politik, 5(2), 203–216. https://doi.org/10.19109/jssp.v5i2.8742

Azmi, N. M., & Chinnasamy, S. (2019). Selangor young voters’ awareness and motivation during GE14. Journal of Media and Information Warfare, 12(1), 1–31. https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/42585

Amberan, M. A. B. T., & Jamil, H. (2022). Voter age limit: Readiness as a voter among secondary school students in Kuala Kangsar District, Perak. Social Science Journal, 12(2), 1–14. https://resmilitaris.net/menu-script/index.php/resmilitaris/article/view/134

Anand, R. (2021, March 25). Malaysia delays lowering voting age, will affect 1.2 million people if election held this year. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-postpones-implementing-lower-voting-age-affecting-12-million-people-for-next

Badaru, K. A., & Adu, E. O. (2021). The political awareness and participation of University Students in post-Apartheid South Africa. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 6(3), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.22

Biney, E., & Amoateng, A. Y. (2019). Youth political participation: A qualitative study of undergraduate students at the University of Ghana. Journal of Politics, Economics and Society, 1(1), 9–25. https://doi.org/10.31920/2075-6534/2019/s1n1a1

Booy, J. L., & Ghazarian, Z. (2020). Young people and politics in Australia: An introduction. Journal of Applied Youth Studies, 3(3), 189–192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-020-00025-1

Chin, C. (2022, August 21). Undi18: How Malaysian youths can become better voters in GE15. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2022/08/21/don-poor-political-literacy-among-youths

Chowdhury, I. (2022, April 19). What will young Australians do with their vote? The Conversation. https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/what-will-young-australians-do-with-their-vote

Copeland, L. (2014). Conceptualizing political consumerism: How citizenship norms differentiate boycotting from boycotting. Political Studies, 62(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.12067

Dalton, R. (2008). Citizenship norms and the expansion of political participation. Political Studies, 56(3), 76–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00718.x

Deth, J. W. V. (2014). A conceptual map of political participation. Acta Politica, 49(3), 349–367. https://doi.org/10.1057/ap.2014.6

Denaley, N. (2021, December 1). Young Americans share concerns about democracy, the Biden administration, the repercussions of the pandemic, and climate change in the latest IOP survey. Harvard Kennedy School. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/politics/harvard-youth-poll-finds-young-americans-gravely-worried

Department of Statistic Malaysia. (2020). Principal statistics of population on census year, Sarawak. Malaysian Government. Department of Statistic Malaysia. https://newss.statistics.gov.my/newss-portalx/ep/epFreeDownloadContentSearch.seam?cid=2394

Dzaki, M. Z. (2022). Sifat dan tingkah laku politik pengundi Undi-18 di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Swasta (IPTS) di Pulau Pinang. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 7(11), e001941–e001941. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v7i11.1941

Edquist, G. J. (2019, April 5). Young people care deeply about politics even if they can’t get excited about elections - ABC Everyday. https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/do-young-people-care-about-politics/10905604

Engesser, S., Ernst, N., Esser, F., & Buchel, F. (2017). Populism and social media: How politicians spread a fragmented ideology. Information, Communication & Society, 20(8), 1–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1207697

Farudin, F. (2021, March 19). Undi 18: Sedia atau tidak Generasi Z? MalaysiaNow. https://www.malaysianow.com/my/news/2021/03/19/undi-18-sedia-atau-tidak

Galston, W. A. (2001). Political knowledge, political engagement, and civic education. Annual Review of Political Science, 4(1), 217–234. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.4.1.217

Genner, S., & Suss, D. (2017). Socialization as media effect. The International Encyclopaedia of Media Effects, 4(4), 1890-1904. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0138

Gnanasagaran, A. (2018, June 9). Will Indonesian youths vote for change? The Asean Post. https://theaseanpost.com/article/will-indonesian-youths-vote-change

Guzman, P. D, & Medina, A. (2023, November 29). Youth and the 2024 Election: Likely to vote and ready to drive action on key political issues. CIRCLE. https://circle.tufts.edu/2024-election-youth-poll

Halim, H., Mohamad, B. B., Dauda, S. A., & Azizan, F. L. (2020). Malaysian youth political participation: A conceptual framework and hypothesis development. Talent Development and Excellence, 12(2), 1072-1086. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341323262_Malaysian_Youth_Political_Participation_A_Conceptual_Framework_and_Hypothesis_Development

Hasnan, H. A. (2019, July 3). Belia kini berumur 15 hingga 30 tahun. Astro Awani. https://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/belia-kini-berumur-15-hingga-30-tahun-211731

Homana, G. (2018). Youth political engagement in Australia and the United States: Student councils and volunteer organizations as communities of practice. Journal of Social Science Education, 17(1), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.4119/UNIBI/jsse-v17-i1-1674

Intyaswati, D., Maryani, E., Sugiana, D., & Venus, A. (2021). Social media as an information source of political learning in online education. SAGE Open, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211023181

Jeroense, T., & Spierings, N. (2022). Political participation profiles. West European Politics, 46(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2021.2017612

Kelana, D. W. N. A., Ariffin, N. N., & Kipli, N. A. (2022). Sarawak’s political landscape: A conceptual analysis among youth. International Journal of Social Science Research, 4(3), 199–208. https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijssr/article/view/19659

Lee, M., & Serena, J. (2021, November 12). Why Is Undi18 so important? Taylor’s College. Retrieved September 3, 2023, from https://college.taylors.edu.my/en/life-at-taylors/news-events/news/why-is-undi18-so-important.html

Mahmud, M. S. (2022). Awareness and attitudes towards the election campaign of Bangladesh: A field study on selected area. Social Science Research Network, 6(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4543551

Moshidi, M. H., Latif2, N. S. F. A., & Yi, C. S. (2021). Youth perception towards readiness of youth in Kuching, Malaysia: Are they ready to vote? E-Proceeding 8th International Conference on Public Policy and Social Science (ICoPS) 2021 (pp.569-574). Google Scholar. https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/55224/

Paula, A., Khanam, F., & Sano, Y. (2022, July 19). Political participation, civic engagement and caregiving among youth in Canada. Statistic Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/42-28-0001/2021001/article/00006-eng.htm

Rahman, Md. S., & Yesmin, Most. N. (2020). The role of family in shaping political affiliation in Bangladesh: A comprehensive observation. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4), 3197–3214. https://doi.org/10.33258/birci.v3i4.1353

Shahimi, W. R. M. A., Chin, K. Y., Ashrofie, A. H., & Husin, H. M. (2020). Voting at 18: Are Malaysian young voters ready to vote? International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society, 2(2), 96-105. https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijares/article/view/9658/4526

Suhaimi, N. (2022, August 16). Platform to resolve issues, empower youth. New Sarawak Tribune. https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/platform-to-resolve-issues-empower-youth/

Stadelmann, M. A. (2020, July 23). Political Science: What is political socialization? Dummies. https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/political-science/general-political-science/political-science-what-is-political-socialization-272091/

Solhaug, T. (2018, August 22). Political awareness, conceptualization and operationalization for research. ECPR. https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/41662

Tamuli, M., & Mallick, S. (2022). The colossal word of political socialization and its im-pact on society. International of Journal Current Research, 14(12), 23033–23034. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366953265_THE_COLOSAL_WORLD ‘POLITICAL_SOCIALIZATION’_AND_ITS_IMPACT_ON_SOCIETY

Turkmenoglu, A. T. (2023). The role of media in the process of socialization: A study on University Students. Journal of Humanities and Societies, 13(1), 401–439. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369982047_The_Role_of_the_Media_in_the_Process_of_Political_Socialization_A_Study_on_University_Students

Wike, R., & Castillo, A. (2018, October 17). Many around the world are disengaged from politics. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/10/17/international-political-engagement/

Webb, P. (2013). Who is willing to participate? Dissatisfied democrats, stealth democrats and populists in the United Kingdom. European Journal of Political Research, 52(6), 747–772. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12021

Weinberg, J. (2020). Politics in schools: “what exists” and “what works”? Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. https://www.psa.ac.uk/resources/politics-schools-what-exists-and-what-works

Yaakub, M. T., Kamil, N. L. M., & Nordin, W. N. A. W. M. (2023). Youth and political participation: What factors influence them? Jurnal Institutions and Economies, 15(2), 87–114. https://doi.org/10.22452/ijie.vol15no2.4

Yeo, B. (2021, November 5). Early lifting of Sarawak emergency disenfranchised young voters, says coalition. Focus Malaysia. https://focusmalaysia.my/early-lifting-of-sarawak-emergency-disenfranchised-young-voters-says-coalition/

Zetra, A., Khalid, K. A. T., Yanuar, F., & Marisa, S. (2022). Political awareness, knowledge, and participation relationship using structural equation approach. Jurnal Wacana Politik, 7(1), 46–56. https://doi.org/10.24198/jwp.v7i1.36325

Zulkifli, N. B., Omar, S. K., Johari, N. F., & Hassan, M. S. (2022). Pengaruh media baru dan penglibatan politik belia. Advances in Humanities and Contemporary Studies, 2(2), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.30880/ahcs.2021.02.02.007

Zolkiply, Z. I. (2021, March 26). PAS setuju SPR tangguh pelaksanaan Undi 18. Berita Harian. https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/politik/2021/03/800510/pas-setuju-spr-tangguh-pelaksanaan-undi-18

Published
2024-02-27
How to Cite
Siang Ling, A. L. and Puyok, A. (2024) “The Impacts of Undi 18 on Political Participation, Awareness and Readiness”, Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 9(2), p. e002655. doi: 10.47405/mjssh.v9i2.2655.
Section
Articles