Youth Political Participation Index

With half of the world’s population being under 30, the continued survival of democracy is highly dependent on buy-in and support among its youth. However, young people, particularly from marginalised communities, are chronically underrepresented in politics, including in parliaments, political parties, local governments, and at the ballot boxes.

Meanwhile, in civic affairs, young people are engaged and take leadership in social movements, but struggle to be taken seriously by established politicians. Young people’s disenfranchisement has important consequences for the state of democracy, which indeed cannot be a true democracy if it is not inclusive of its young citizens.

The Youth Political Participation Index aims to map the inclusion and participation of youth in public affairs on a global scale, filling an important gap in the available data on the state of formal and informal youth participation in several spheres of political participation worldwide. Currently in development, this project will be visible soon.