Glossa marginalis. Nejmladší zastupitelé, co o nich víme?
Dan Ryšavý
Glossa marginalis: The Youngest Councillors. What we know about them?In municipal councils of Czech municipalities a councillor under 25 years of age is hard to come by. A survey among municipal councillors in two Moravian regions shows that young councillors do not differ from their older counterparts in the degree of willingness to stand for re-election and in incumbency success rate. Only a small portion of these councillors are a member of a political party; however, party members are more active about their re-election. Responses obtained through an online questionnaire show that the youngest councillors are aware of their role (more frequent participation in addressing public issues) but it appears as if they felt alone in this (relatively small frequency of repeated contact with politicians); furthermore, a majority of them do not want to be linked with any political party or agitation even if they consider work in a party to be an effective instrument for achieving change. Compared to their peers outside the council, the youngest councillors have less trust in political parties, the Chamber of Deputies but also trade unions which for them symbolise big politics from which they keep distance. Similarly, they also show a reduced measure of interpersonal trust; they question the probity and selflessness of most people.
