Motives of Voting and Representation about Elections for the First-time Voters

The electoral behaviour of the youth of Russia is marked by passivity and reaction. Political absenteeism and low level of participation are associated both with the atomization of individual life and with the devaluation of the institution of elections in the eyes of the youth. At the same time, it remains unclear what intentions lie on the basis of the decision to participate or to refuse to vote in the elections; and what factors ensure the decision to participate among young people who have only received the right to a formal political expression in the past parliamentary elections of 2016. The research is based on the adapted theoretical model of civil culture by G. Almond, which made it possible to determine the combination of declared motivational settings in motivational profiles, and also to trace their connection with the complex of assessments of the image of authority, satisfaction with the situation in the country, and attitudes to the past elections. This study revealed the presence of three motivational profiles of participation, expressing: high civic activity, protest voting, routine voting; and two - denial expressing: the absence of any interest and distrust of the event. The revealed motivational profiles have shown an almost complete lack of connection with the perception of elections. At the same time, satisfaction with the situation in the country and the perception of the image of authority have demonstrated their importance in the received motivational profiles.