The Gender Gap Report Southeast Europe: The Political Participation Gap

Across Southeast Europe, a new generation is coming of age politically in an environment marked by slow gains in representation, persistent violence against women in public life, and widening gaps in how young men and women relate to politics. The result is a stark and widening divide: 39.2% of young men say they would be willing to take on a political role, compared to just 26.6% of young women—a gap that speaks less to apathy than to unequal confidence and opportunity. And yet, 66.6% of young women—versus 60.3% of young men—believe young people should have a stronger voice in politics, revealing a striking tension between critique and participation.

The latest installment of The Gender Gap Report, based on the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s 2024 Southeast Europe Youth Study of nearly 9,000 young people across twelve countries, examines how this paradox plays out across the region. From Kosovo, where only 12.3% of young women would consider a political role, to Türkiye, where 45.7% of young women and 48.2% of young men say they would, the gap varies dramatically by country. Even more telling: men consistently rate their political knowledge higher, and that gap persists even among those who are equally interested in politics.

This eighth issue in the ten-part series, written by Semir Dzebo, explores the political participation gap not as a simple story of disinterest, but as a complex interplay of confidence, context, and structural barriers. It shows that young women are not withdrawing from politics altogether, but are less willing to enter it as it currently exists. The result is a critical pipeline problem for democratic representation — one that cannot be addressed by institutional reforms alone, but requires a deeper shift in how political life is experienced, perceived, and made accessible.