Give 16-Year-Olds Something to Vote for, Not Just the Vote

Austria’s experience with 16-year-old voters shows that expanding the franchise does little to restore trust when elections amount to a choice between managed decline and the far right.

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of only five German states where the local voting age remains 18. Some politicians, like SPD member Michael Ebling, pictured here at a 2023 demonstration, have advocated lowering it to 16, as is the case elsewhere in the German-speaking world. (Sebastian Gollnow /Getty Images)

Sorry, this article is available to subscriber only. Click here to subscribe.