Julia Rakers

Julia Rakers is a doctoral researcher at the NRW School of Governance, Institute of Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Her research interests include vote abstention, political participation, and migration politics. She is a NRW Fellow at AGI from October to November 2024. She holds an MSc from Leiden University (The Netherlands).

Her research project in Washington, DC, examines declining voter turnout in both the United States and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), focusing on the role of civic education in this trend. Although the United States and NRW have experienced a resurgence in voter participation, both continue to struggle with historically low voter turnout, particularly among marginalized groups. Using focus group data and interviews, the project examines whether political education influences individuals’ decisions not to vote and assesses strategies used to increase voter participation.