Youth policy and participation

YOUNG

This article problematizes the assumption that national policies have a direct impact on youth participation at the local level and analyses the relationships between local forms of youth participation and local and national policies. Relying on data from a EU project funded under the HORIZON 2020 programme, the article focuses on formally institutionalized settings of youth participation and elaborates local constellations of youth participation in six European cities. These constellations may be referred to as regimes of youth participation as they reflect wider structures of power and knowledge that influence the way in which young people’s practices in public spaces and their claims of being part of society are recognized. However, the analysis reveals that rather deducing it from the model of welfare regimes, such a typology needs to be developed starting from the local level and should consider the ways in which different relationships between local youth policies and national...

In recent years the idea of youth participation has achieved an almost obligatory status in youth policy documents. An uncritical reading would leave many with the expectation that this approach will deliver increased democratic participation for young people. This impression is understandable given the way language used draws on the rhetoric of democratic participation.

Finnish Youth Research Network, Internet Publications 69, 2014

"Youth in Europe are politically engaged and having their say at the local level in many fields of democracy. Nevertheless, often political activeness is only considered to be the act of voting in mainstream elections. Moreover, it can be observed that local decision-making rarely has the ability to utilize the messages generated by such youth activity. This publication comprehensively highlights the political engagement of youth. Using practical examples, it presents in addition to representative democracy, the forms of direct, participatory, deliberative democracy and progressive activism as well as counter-democratic activity. The significance of social media is also emphasized. Additionally, the publication considers whether the versatility of youth participation and its scope of impact are sufficiently supported by European policy documents concerning youth participation, the guidelines based on such documentation, internationally ratified codes of practice and national legislations. The recommendations given in the publication support the many different forms of youth participation and the increase in impact of such participation in the future."

The authors suggest four interconnected ways to better understand current developments, paradoxes and ways to deal with youth political participation in Europe: 1. Expand the concept of participation and democracy beyond conventional forms of participation and representative democracy 2. Improve mutual understanding of institutions and youth on participation. A major challenge lies in the wide gap and the profound misunderstanding between what institutions and what most young people mean by participation. 3. Participation needs to be more connected to empowerment and agency. 4. No “one size fits all”: A better understanding and a more efficient promotion of youth political participation require a specific handling of various categories of young people with specific challenges.

Council of Europe - European Commission, 2021

The study explores young people’s contemporary engagement in politics, including both conventional and non-conventional channels of participation, namely voting, membership in political parties, national youth councils and youth organisations, volunteering and participation in global movements and protests.

Bordón. Revista de Pedagogía

INTRODUCTION. Education policies have indicated the importance of youth participation in schools, which is one of the European Goals within the EU Youth Strategy framed by the EU youth policy cooperation for 2019-2027. The subject of youth participation refers to multiple definitions and diverse theoretical frameworks, which show the difficulty of finding a consensual definition or approach. The main objective of the current paper is to characterize youth participation models and to identify how those models convey different views, establishing possible connections with political discourses. METHOD. The study is based on an interpretive perspective. Data was collected by documentary analysis of 28 models of youth participation, which were analysed in the light of four pre-established categories: orthodox, multidimensional participation, qualitative and non-conformist. RESULTS. The majority of the 28 models of youth participation were specifically designed for children and young peop...

Executive Summary This policy study addresses prerequisites for youth participation in decision making process on issues that concerns them in municipalities in Montenegro, aiming to offer alternatives and policy recommendations to the local governments in order to improve participatory practice and develop sustainable and institutionalized mechanisms for youth involvement on equal basis, as well as to provide standards and prevent the decline of established democratic practices during policy vacuum between two strategies for youth in Montenegro. The study is based on qualitative research, primarily focus groups and semi structured interviews with selected representatives of the policy community in municipalities which have started with localization of the national strategy for youth and development of the participatory mechanisms for young people at the local level. Selected municipalities were divided in three regions (northern, central and southern), reflecting overall diversity of the Montenegrin society in terms of geography, political affiliation, demography, regional importance etc. Apart from local, interviews involved representatives of the national youth bodies responsible to assist municipalities in the process of localization of the national strategy for youth. The study includes analysis of the secondary data such as strategic documents referring to youth on national and international level, national legislative framework (Law on Local Self Governments, Higher Education Law, Law on the University), annual governmental reports, NGO reports, situational overview of the implementation of the national youth strategy (IOM,2010), and analysis of the reports made by the National Youth Steering Committee of Montenegro (NYCS) referring to the Annual Conference on Youth Policy in Montenegro 2011, and round tables on youth participation. The purpose of this policy study is to address the problem of a lack of standardized and institutionalized mechanizms for youth participation on municipal level in Montenegro, addressing its various aspects, such as: lack of opportunities for young people to participate in decizion making on issues which concerns them on equal basis, low degree of youth participation within existing structures, a lack of capacities for implementation and improvement of youth participatory practice at the local level, and inadequate legislative framework. The study strives to offer policy alternatives and evidence based policy recommendations in order to assist municipalities to develop sustainable structures for youth participation in the decision making process on issues that concerns them at the local level, as well as to prevent the decline of existing democratic practices by setting the standards during the policy vacuum in Montenegro. It can be said that existing mechanisms of citizens participation at the local level does not reach young people and does not provide their full participation in decision making on issues which concerns them on equal basis. While facing different challenges, young people need more specific and better organized means of support and it seems that traditional approaches are not adequate enough for addressing the multidimensional nature of youth issues.Therefore, governmental intervention is needed in order to provide conditions for young people to make active contribution in social transformation, especially at the local level. Intervention needs to be focused on the creation of opportunities for youth to participate in decision making process on an equal basis through establishment of co-management based mechanisms, followed by capacity building of the stakeholders in municipalities, and the creation of the legal framework, or adjustment of the existing regulations. Overall, even if some progress has been made in recent years, it can be said that the development of local structures and capacities aimed to support active youth involvement in decision making on equal basis is lacking. There is the impression that the development of local capacities is random, rather than being structured and organized. The model of youth participation based on co-management principles and values is also missing at the local level, as well as the guidelines to municipalities in order to assist them in achieving their goals. In addition, there is a lack of financial capacities on municipal level in order to be able to develop sustainable participatory mechanisms for young people. Therefore, this policy study is set to explore and offer some possible solutions for existing problems. Maintaining the status quo would not require any additional significant input by the municipality, which makes it rather attractive. Local self governments are often keen to perform “formal” changes, instead of undertaking substantial and constructive actions, demonstrating genuine care for their youth and willingness to change and transform their practice. On the other hand, there are numerous forms of youth involvement existing at the local level which does not provide youth participation in the decision making process, but reduce young people to passive implementers and consumers. Formally appointed youth officers can be the indicator of municipal willingness to deal with youth issues, even if they do not have any substantial decision making power or skills to cope with such complex issues. Adding new duties related to youth to the existing municipal units (instead of creating new participatory forms based on co-management principals) makes them even less efficient and overloaded. Overall, keeping the status quo leads to the deepening of the gap between youth and the local authorities which can have long term bad consequences, having in mind that young people in proportion to their number (23.2% of the population of Montenegro) should represent, if not the most important, then one of the main actors in the creation of the entire social reality (NYAP, 2006). The ideal solution would refer to provision of the long term sustainable conditions and framework for youth participation in decision making process. The ideal solution implies the development of the local strategies for youth with youth, accompanied with shared responsibility for the budgets for their implementation. It includes establishment of youth participatory structures, including Councils for Youth (CfY) based on co-management principals at the local level. Those structures would be directly involved in implementation of the local strategies, deciding on issues concerning youth. Accordingly, a larger commitment of the Government in addressing youth issues would be required, as well as increase of the national budget for National Youth Action Plan implementation. Support to municipalities should be more coordinated and organized. In order to put the entire process in the legal framework it is essential to develop The Law on Youth in Montenegro. Although, it would be the long term solution to the youth issue placed in a sustainable framework, it requires much more time, funding, capacity building and the reconstruction of the legislative framework, which does not put it among optimal, but long term ideal solutions. Considering limited resources of Montenegrin municipalities, as well as the urgency for changing the status quo, the preferred policy option would be somewhere in the middle, providing direct youth participation in decision making process through new approach. Given that a number of municipalities have already started with development of the local strategies for young people and building structures, it is a good moment to create a co-management based model of youth participation in municipalities through establishment of the Councils for Youth (CfY), aimed to ensure that the local strategy really addresses the needs and problems of youth, and that young people are going to be involved in responsibility and power sharing while making decisions concerning them. Those bodies should be made on equal basis (youth presenting 50% of membership). Establishment of the CfYs does can be done through creation of the local regulations (Decisions and Rules of Procedure), and their financial sustainability can be provided through redirection of the existing national funds. This solution would encourage the youth to take part and have they say, as well as contribute to reduction of inter generational gap. Creation of the CfYs in different municipalities can enable networking in the horizontal and vertical level and thereby to obtain a broader front to advocate for the further process of localization of the NYAP, and increasing the budget for its implementation, including legislative framework development.

European citizenship: in the process of …, 2009

The development of youth leadership is critical to building civic capacity and long –term community sustainability .Psychologies will bear with me that Man as a whole is considered as a social being, since time immemorial, Man has always seek for the space, time and opportunity to meet or group themselves so as to either share good times, sad moments or better still seek for a solution to handle a community problem. This grouping we should note many at times take different forms and has diverse objectives such as meeting to share a benefice, exchange experiences, defends a common goal, carry out an activity, fight to gain power or autonomy .What therefore accounts for today, youths reluctance in active participation in governance issues meanwhile they are considered as tomorrow’s leaders who need to take elders examples so as to became better arm. It is very evidence that investing in the young generation of today is a way to harvest tomorrow’s peace, democracy, stability, security and sustainable development .Our focus will present cases or situations in which youths are involved in governance, factors that discourage youths participation ,factors that can help encourage more youths active involvement in governance and democratic actions.

2017

Youth political disengagement continues to be a major issue facing contemporary democracies that needs to be better understood. The traditional conception of participation in politics became outdated and new questions should be explored. While, most scholars have analysed the issue of political engagement among young people in a single country only, this paper adds contribution to a comparative research on young people’s engagement in politics. In this paper, I outline an empirical analysis relating to the understanding of youth participation across Europe. I analyse the socio-demographic and contextual predictors of formal and informal political participation among young people using survey analysis across 28 European countries. I argue that socio-demographic factors and contextual factors are crucial predictors when it comes to formal and informal political participation among young people in Europe with variations across democracies. The results indicate that while age, social an...