Youth Civic Engagement: Do Youth Councils Reduce or Reinforce Social Inequality?

Abstract

Youth engagement in municipal government has the potential to benefit both youth and the community. Yet, some forms of youth civic engagement may be related to social class and race resulting in benefits to select youth and communities, thus perpetuating a longer term trajectory of privilege or marginalization. Informed by theories of social capital and civic engagement, the present study examined how youth councils may reduce or reinforce social inequality among young people at the city level. Data collection included interviews with youth council members, interviews with adult allies, observations of youth council meetings, and a review of council documents. Thematic analysis identified four overarching themes related to social inequality: member representation, social networks, community engagement, and youth engagement in governmental decision making. Although the council was committed to diversity and authentic youth engagement, findings identified areas in need of further attention. One important area is recruiting diverse youth, including those who attend non-traditional school settings. Another key area is providing youth with ongoing training and support focused on effective strategies for community engagement. Finally, more emphasis should be placed on engaging socially disadvantaged youth in municipal government and assisting them in enhancing their social networks.

Engaging youth in research planning, design and execution: Practical recommendations for researchers

“…Researchers are encouraged to remember that different youth may have varying viewpoints; while it may be impossible to take equal action in the face of conflicting views, all voices deserve to be heard, respected and considered during the youth engagement process. It is also important to be sure to engage youth from the specific demographic(s) that the research project is primarily targeting to ensure meaningful youth input …”

Examining Integrated Youth Services Using the Bioecological Model: Alignments and Opportunities

“…Since youth engagement at the governance level implicates youth-adult partnerships, both of these perspectives should be captured within future research. In addition, there continues to be a need for more research that examines youth engagement and the influence on organizational and system impacts [39787980] and there is a need for more research that examines youth engagement as a process, particularly with respect to influences associated with external organizational structures [80], implementation [7981], representative youth diversity [82] and development of social capital [8283]. …”

Citizens by waiting: Timorese young adults between state politics and customary authority

“…It might not come as a surprise that alumni of a youth parliament have mixed feelings about the scope of their participation. Various authors point out that youth councils are often 'quasi-democratic forms of participation', characterised by tokenism and social control (Taft and Gordon 2013, 97) in which inequality between youth and adults (Wyness 2009) or even between higher and lower educated youth (Augsberger et al 2017) are reproduced. What struck me in the discussion with the alumni of the Timorese youth parliament, however, was that rather than referring only to the hierarchical relationship between them and the older generations, they specifically brought up their position in customary law systems in order to explain their lack of participation in (national democratic) politics.…”