International Students' Views on Political Participation in Estonia

The political participation of international students—young people who live temporarily in another country—has been relatively underexplored, despite the increasing number and significance of this group. Young people with temporary residence permits are often excluded from traditional forms of participation, as they do not have the right to vote, and other forms of engagement have remained largely unstudied. This paper focuses on the experiences and views of secondary school and university students regarding their views on political participation in Estonia. Drawing on evidence from qualitative interviews, the paper analyses the informants' understanding of citizenship and the meanings they attach to participation in elections, organisations, public events, and community-level activities.

The study is based on interviews with international students aged 16 to 29. The participants were from, or had spent part of their childhood in, Europe, the Middle East, North America, or Asia. They had lived in Estonia for between one and five years and had open-ended plans for the future. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using NVivo software, with a partially grounded theory approach, incorporating methods such as open coding, axial coding, and focused coding.

The analysis shows that the participants had an interest in the politics of their host country, while often remaining connected to their countries of origin. Discussions about political issues and awareness of political situations were seen as important. Although voting was considered one form of participation among others, it carried the strongest connotations of being a citizen. Younger informants viewed political participation more narrowly, emphasising involvement in organisations and political party activities. Some differences in the conceptualisation of citizenship and defining political participation emerge also due to country of origin.