
As the YDC releases the Policy Tracker study, three key themes in youth political participation come to light. This is the third and last theme. This section looks into youth engagement in civil society, drawing attention to various modes of involvement, including youth-led associations, participation in social movements, and roles within structured civil society organisations. Furthermore, the section examines how youth civil society involvement impacts civic and political engagement in the long run among diverse groups.
“Youth in civil society” covers the engagement of young people in civil society. The definition and boundaries of what constitutes civil society are subject to debate (Walker et al 2013). This chapter outlines the various modes of youth involvement that relate, accepting that not all modes may fall under strict definitions of civil society. The chapter then addresses the limited literature on the diversity of youth civil society as well as the impact of membership.
Modes of involvement in civil society
The definition and boundaries of what constitutes civil society are subject to debate (Walker et al 2013). Assuming this refers only to constituted and structured non-state organisations, there are two methods of involvement for young people in civil society:
- Through membership of youth-led associations, formal civil society organisations which are run exclusively or dominantly by young people and have young people or other youth-led associations as their members.
- Through involvement in “all age” civil society organisations, these organisations integrate youth in different ways. Some by creating youth sections, such as Oxfam International Youth Parliament in Australia and youth wings of political parties; some by positive discrimination in favour of young people, such as YWCA, and others do not make age distinctions but are simply attractive to young people (Rossi 20009).
With a broader perspective on what constitutes civil society, there are two further modes relevant to youth political participation:
- Through involvement in new social movements, such as youth environmental movements and Black Lives Matter. Understood as structurally fluid and decentralised movements, typified by an open membership. Such movements tend to be concerned with lifestyle issues and achieving social change through forms of direct action and community building (Norris 2002). New social movements are not formal organisations however the movements themselves can also involve organisations (Walker et al 2013).
- Through involvement in semi-independent youth structures set up by, or within, state organisations, such as steering groups or youth councils established within a public body. Faulkner (2019) identifies that some structures of this nature may be better thought of as “insider groups” representing youth interests. They have regular access to discussions and developments on policy issues within the host organisations but are highly dependent on the very group they seek to influence for funding and resources. These structures can have a degree of autonomy and may even transition to be independent civil society organisations, though even independent youth organisations can be manipulated by authoritarian regimes through co-optation and coercion (Sika et al 2018).
Youth councils, youth parliaments, youth forums, and youth advisory groups are common terms referring to youth structures, with no singular term being used consistently. These terms can refer to independent youth-led civil associations, and semi-independent structures for young people set up within state organisations, as well as youth sections of all age civil society organisations. They typically, though not always exclusively, have a core function to represent or advocate for young people (Taft and Gordon 2013).
As part of the turn towards alternative forms of participation (see chapter on youth in political affairs) it is argued that young people are turning away from structured, formal, membership based civil society as a mode of activism and towards single issue campaign organisation and social movements (Norris 2002). According to Rossi (2009) activism is no longer viewed as a duty demanding fidelity to an organisation, the subject should instead be faithful to a cause and individual principles. Organisations and collectives are considered channels that, when they cease being efficient or lose certain attractive attributes, young people can stop supporting and/or abandon. Thus, it is argued young people’s individualistic and lifestyle-related concerns rely on the aggregate of individual actions and therefore fit better within social movements, rather than the collective agreement demanded by traditional representation-based organisations (Livingstone 2008). However, the argument that young people are more attracted to social movements than organisations is disputed as too simplistic (Crowley et al 2016) and reliant on an artificial distinction between movements and organisations (Walker et al 2013).
Diversity and common identities
The diversity of youth civil society is a matter of debate, and there are no comprehensive studies of the social demographics of youth civil society organisations. There is evidence that many politically engaged youth civil society organisations could do more to orient themselves towards the needs of young people and in particular towards the needs, interests, and motivations of young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (Cammaerts et al 2014). The similarity of activists in some organisations suggest that traditional inequalities of voice and equality are maintained in the younger generations across different organisations (Rainsford 2017). However, activist organisations also serve as a tool for identity construction both for internal development of members and political external recognition of interest groups and can function effectively as vehicles for collective marginalised groups such as young people from ethnic minority groups. (Albuquerque et al 2000). Groups of young people began to “know themselves” through collective action and political undertakings, adopting common identities and attracting those with similar identities. (Walker et al 2013). It may be the case that individual organisations have fairly homogenous membership, but the youth civil society sector as a whole is diverse.
Impact of membership of civil society organisations
There is research to suggest membership of civic organisations that allow young people to acquire high-quality participation experience and to practise their participatory skills boosts civic and political engagement, including engagement with voting (Cammaerts et al 2014, Fernandes-Jesus et al 2012, Fox et al 2010, McFarlandet al 2006, Quintelier 2008 Fjerza et al 2014). Engagement in extracurricular and community-based organisations in adolescence predicts civic engagement in adulthood (Verba et al 1995) in a potentially long-lasting manner (Youniss et al 2022), bolstering members’ political engagement and providing them with valuable civic knowledge and skills (Terriquez et al 2020). The type of organisation is key, involvement in youth voluntary associations concerning community service, representation, speaking in public forums, and those that generate a communal identity are seen to be most impactful (McFarland et al 2006, Quintelier 2008).
Mechanisms underlying the long-term impact of organisational involvement in one’s youth are not well researched. Flanagan (2009) argues impacts may include learning and skills development, creation of a recruitment trajectory where involvement in one group increases the likelihood of recruitment into others, as well as development of identification with public or collective identity based around activism.