Evolution of the Political Culture of the Youth of Kazakhstan

This article focuses on the question whether young people's attitudes to politics of Kazakhstan. The concept of political culture is used as the theoretical framework. Reference is made to gender, age and level of education. Data from the three waves (1992, 1997 and 2003) of the ‘Youth Survey’ carried out by the Centre for Analysis and Forecasting (C.A.P.) are analysed. Each wave was based on personal interviews with approximately 7000 16- to 29-year olds. The text first describes the political involvement of young people, secondly the acceptance of democracy and, thirdly, satisfaction with the reality of democracy and trust in political or state institutions, as well as in politicians. The results show clear differences in some aspects of the political culture of young people in the Kazakhstan. In other aspects the political attitudes have become more similar, especially trust in institutions. However, the political involvement of young people is largely the same, i.e. in this respect no change has occurred.