Gen Z could tip the election, but money still speaks, says political scientist Přemysl Rosůlek

Gen Z shows little interest in politics. Ahead of the parliamentary elections, parties seek its favor by placing young faces on candidate lists or posting TikTok videos. Yet traditional campaign forms still matter. Listen to the new episode of the UniverZ podcast.

Society, according to political scientist Přemysl Rosůlek, is highly polarized not only before the elections. One of the main factors in deciding whom to vote for will be voters’ wallets – money will play a role even for young voters. The big pre-election issue that could stir up preferences at the last moment, like the lithium affair four years ago, has yet to appear in the media space. “The old ideological polarization between right and left no longer applies. Since 2010 we’ve had new actors and more ideas from vaguely defined political entities,” explains the associate professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia.

Besides the forms of election campaigning and targeting young voters, we also focused on ethics and artificial intelligence. In terms of its regulation, he says, the Czech Republic is still lagging behind. That is why, in cooperation with the Czech Association for Artificial Intelligence, he drafted the Ethical Code for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Election Campaigns. “So far, this campaign hasn’t brought anything significant in terms of AI virality. But transparency is crucial. Parties should not be using deepfakes or softfakes to discredit candidates,” he noted.

For the UWB podcast UniverZ he also admits that debating with opponents can sometimes be difficult even for him. “I myself sometimes find it hard when I have to argue with someone who claims the Earth is flat, or that NATO provoked Russia’s attack on Ukraine,” he said in the interview.

Listen to more on Spotify or in the video below the article.