When Protest Reframes Voting: Electoral Participation and Youth Citizenship in Post-Constituent Chile

Abstract

In contemporary democracies, the relationship between social protest, electoral participation, and youth citizenship is central to understanding recent transformations in political engagement. Although protest and voting are often examined as distinct repertoires of participation, in contexts of representation crisis and institutional opening they may become articulated within broader processes of democratic politicization. This article examines this relationship in post-constituent Chile by analyzing the association between the perceived political efficacy of the October 2019 social mobilizations, the reframing of electoral participation, and the subjective redefinition of youth political citizenship. Drawing on a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design, this study analyzed data from an online survey of 482 young people aged 18 to 29 living in Chile. A mediation model was estimated to assess whether the reframing of electoral participation mediates the relationship between perceived protest efficacy and the redefinition of youth political citizenship. The results show positive and statistically significant associations between all variables. Moreover, perceived protest efficacy is both directly and indirectly associated with the redefinition of youth political citizenship through the reframing of electoral participation. The article contributes to research on youth participation, political efficacy, and social movements by showing that protest may be linked to a subjective revaluation of voting and to emerging forms of active citizenship.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Societies, 2026 · DOI ↗