A year before Slovakia's vote, an American Peace Corps volunteer working in the Slovak affiliate of the American Foundation for a Civil Society thought about Rock the Vote, an American effort to encourage young people to vote.
Picking the Parliament's Hottest Hits
by Tina Rosenberg from the New York Times
Everywhere in the former Communist world, the transition to democracy and the free market depends on the young. While older people tend to feel threatened by the risk and responsibility demanded by capitalism, those in their 20's relish them. For the most part, the young are more tolerant, less nationalistic and more interested in European normality than their elders. They do not support the Slobodan Milosevics of the region. But their views count little, because like young people everywhere, they tend not to vote.
So it was startling that two days before Slovakia's parliamentary elections last fall, Bratislava's central square filled with young people listening to rock bands and shouting "We will go vote!" And 80 percent of the 380,000 voters age 18 to 21 did, compared with 20 percent in the 1994 elections. More than two-thirds of them supported the opposition, making a difference as Slovakia ousted Vladimir Meciar, a nationalist bully, and installed a promising pro-European coalition.
The mobilization of Slovakia's youth was a campaign that deserves study by democracy activists in neighboring countries, especially those run by autocrats such as Mr. Milosevic or Franjo Tudjman of Croatia, who stage-manage their own elections. A year before Slovakia's vote, an American Peace Corps volunteer working in the Slovak affiliate of the American Foundation for a Civil Society thought about Rock the Vote, an American effort to encourage young people to vote. Could it work in Slovakia? The foundation hired 23-year-old Marek Kapusta, who had managed a team of young Slovak election observers in Bosnia, to direct what became "Rock volieb '98" -- Rock the Vote '98. The youth campaign was part of an ambitious, mainly nonpartisan effort by Slovakia's nongovernmental groups, which have high credibility, to turn out voters, track the government-controlled media and monitor voting. "We had to be positive and light," Mr. Kapusta told me. "And we had to attract media, because we couldn't pay for it." Rock volieb staged a 16-city concert tour, during which young volunteers handed out T-shirts and voter information.
Meanwhile, video producers were making spots featuring the American rapper Coolio and Slovak celebrities, including musicians and snowboarding and hockey stars, in MTV-style ads set to the music of the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. "When you go out in the evening you choose your club," a famous disk jockey says in one. "Make sure you vote, because a DJ may be coming whom you don't want to hear." Rock volieb got the ads free airplay on MTV Europe and Slovakia's private TV station, 8 or 10 times a day. They played in theaters before the movie premiere of "The X-Files."
Mr. Kapusta is now talking to his potential counterparts in Croatia and Serbia. But Slovakia's success may complicate their attempts to duplicate it. Mr. Meciar probably tolerated Rock volieb because the young were famously apathetic. Now authoritarian leaders know they are a threat. But the Slovak experience may also energize democratic activists in Croatia and Serbia, giving a shot of confidence to a fragmented and demoralized opposition.
