청소년 참정권 확대에 관한 연구

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper proposes a lowering of the age of youth participation in elections as a way to protect the rights and interests of future generations and realize democratic politics in a modern society with a low birth rate and aging population. The election age was lowered to 18 once due to the revision of the Public Official Election Act in 2019, but the election participation rate of the younger generation is low, raising concerns that the voices of the younger generation may not be sufficiently reflected in political decisions. In order to realize democratic politics and expand political participation of the younger generation, it is essential to lower the age of youth participation in elections. Even when the election age was lowered to 18, there were opposition opinions, but youth participation in politics is a task that must be carried out for the development of democracy and expansion of civic participation. This paper studies the social changes caused by low birth rate and aging, the status of young generations participation in elections, the necessity and expected problems of lowering the election age, and solutions, and proposes the expansion of youth suffrage as a 16-year-old.