The Making of Good Citizens: Participation Policies, the Internet and Youth Political Identities in Australia and the United Kingdom

Collin, P. (2009) The Making of Good Citizens: Participation policies, the internet and youth political identities in Australia and the United Kingdom. PhD Thesis, University of Sydney. Abstract This thesis examines the relationship between youth participation policies, the internet and young people’s political participation. In recent times youth participation policies have become an increasingly popular solution to a range of perceived ‘issues’ related to young people: either problems of youth disengagement from democracy or their exclusion from democratic processes. At the same time, young people’s lives are increasingly mediated by information communication technologies: identity, social relationships, learning and cultural, political and economic practices are embedded in the internet and mobile usage. Consequently, the internet is being increasingly utilised to promote and implement the aims of these youth participation policies. Despite the need to understand the relationship between policy and practice, research rarely considers the relationship between policy, practice and young people’s views and experiences. This thesis addresses this gap in the literature by looking at what participation means in youth policy, in the practice of non-government organisations and for young people themselves. It engages directly with young people’s experiences and in doing so moves beyond questions of mobilisation and reinforcement. Instead it examines the diversity of ways in which young people conceptualise and practice participation, both online and offline. It also relates their views and actions to broader changes in governance and democracy and draws on contemporary theories of political identity and citizenship to make sense of the way that young people view, and exercise, citizenship. This study draws on original qualitative research generated in a comparative study of Australia and the United Kingdom. The experiences of young people in two national non-government organisations are studied and explored in relation to the policy discourses on youth and participation in each country setting. This study has drawn on participant observation, document analysis and in-depth interviews with twenty four young people and eight executive staff and board members across the two country settings. This thesis provides an in-depth account of how young people conceptualise and practice politics. In doing so, it argues, firstly, that the political identities of young people are shaped by dominant discourses of youth and participation and that youth participation policies are transforming the ways that young people conceptualise participation and engage in participatory activities. Although participation policies are often intended to connect young people to government policy making processes, young people remain cynical about the interest and ability of governments to recognise and respond to their views. They see governments and politicians as remote from their lives and the issues they cared about. Comparatively, they demonstrate a passionate commitment to causes, to personally defined acts incorporated in their everyday lives through local volunteering and contributing to national initiatives. Furthermore, these young people reject traditional hierarchies, show significant commitment to action over ideology and value the cultural and interpersonal dimensions of participation. They often conceptualise participation as everyday acts through networks that transcend traditional models of membership-based organisations, of state-oriented politics, of locally-based action and of formal and informal policy making processes. Secondly, young people use the Internet for a diverse range of participation activities. The internet facilitates activities which bring together the political, cultural, social and economic dimensions of young people’s lives. For instance, participatory activities, friendships, study, hobbies and consumer activities were often interwoven as young people discussed participation. However, the picture that emerged in this thesis is that the agency and autonomy that young people value in online participation contrasts starkly with government policies which favour structured, managed, prescribed processes for youth participation both on and offline. Thirdly, whilst participation policies have opened up new access points to policy-making from which young people have traditionally been excluded, they tend to legitimise managed forms of participation and de-legitimise others. Consequently, participation policies, in their present form, tend to exacerbate, rather than remedy problems of elitism and can further alienate young people from political elites. Furthermore, as discourses of participation are becoming more prevalent in the non-government sector, young people are increasingly oriented away from government towards other actors. This thesis finds that young people are becoming more, not less, alienated from formal politics as they find more resonance in non-government processes and feel more excluded from the processes of government

Citizenship, activism and participation on the internet: brazilian experiences

A number of social and political actions have been strengthened and potentiated by internet support, with use of its network architecture to disseminate information, promote collective discussion and support activism. In order to discuss how internet tools can contribute to political and social participation in Brazil, were identified on two websites: Vote on the Web (Vote na Web), which is privately owned, and Participatory – Youth Participatory Surveillance (Participatório – Observatório Participativo da Juventude), which is the result of an initiative by the government through the National Youth Secretariat (Secretaria Nacional da Juventude - SNJ). From these examples, this study aims to analyze the use of the internet for the creation, organization and dissemination of social and political participation and online activism in Brazil. It is understood that the websites are limited and that online tools are not used to their full potential. However, considering a context of citizenship and online participation, it is possible to verify that the architecture of those websites encourages participation - even without civic engagement - and can be a step forward towards an enhanced civic practice

Urban youth and social networks in Mozambique: the political participation of the helpless connected

In the last 10 years, studies on political participation through social networks have marked the debate in the field of media studies. In Mozambique, particularly, and in the world, in general, youth represent the galvanizing centre that finds in the use of social networks an almost ideal tool of expression about their frustrations due to their situation of blatant social misery – unemployment and constant life uncertainty to which youth are exposed. With this article, we intend to analyse the role of social networks, specifically Facebook, in the political and social engagement of urban youth in Mozambique, considering a timeline that covers the last four years, 2014 to 2017. As a result, it is concluded that, despite the expansion of social networks in recent years, they cannot yet be considered as spaces for effective political participation by youth, due to the fact that the internet is less comprehensive, on the one hand, and the weak youth interest in political issues in Mozambique, on the other

Collective Protest and Expressive Action Among University Students in Hong Kong: Associations Between Offline and Online Forms of Political Participation

Youth have often been described as politically apathetic or disengaged, particularly with respect to more conventional forms of participation. However, they tend to prefer non-institutionalized modes of political action and they may express themselves on the Internet. Young people have also been recognized as having a "latent preparedness" to get politically active when needed. This paper reports forms of offline and online participation adopted by young adults in Hong Kong who were surveyed shortly before the anti-extradition bill social movement of 2019 and 1 year later. The results tentatively suggest that young adults may not be very active in politics when they do not perceive the need to bring about change. However, they are involved in expressive activities and on the Internet more broadly, and ready to turn their latent participation into concrete political participation when they are dissatisfied with government actions and believe it is their responsibility to act against laws perceived to be unjust. Cross-sectional and cross-lagged panel analyses show that youth's participation in offline political activities is associated with their online participation. Positive effects of past experiences in each mode on participation in offline and online political activities show the mobilizing potential of social media and provide support for the reinforcement hypothesis, though previous participation in offline activities appears as a better predictor of political participation when compared with prior participation on the Internet

Identifying Best Practices in Civic Education: Lessons From the Student Voices Program

School‐based civic education is increasingly recognized as an effective means for increasing political awareness and participation in American youth. This study examines the Student Voices curriculum, implemented in 22 Philadelphia high schools, to assess program activities that mediate gains in outcomes linked to future political participation (following of politics, political knowledge, and political efficacy). The results indicate that class deliberative discussions, community projects, and informational use of the Internet produce favorable outcomes that build over the course of two semesters. Effects were comparable for both white and nonwhite students

Digital Engagement, Political and Civic Participation

Objective: This paper examines the digital engagement, political and civic participation among Malaysian youth in marginalized communities.  It also studies the relationship between digital engagement and two participation constructs. The framework of the study was based on mobilization theories, which suggested that previously unavailable technologies such as the Internet could mobilize members of underprivileged or underrepresented groups who lack socioeconomic resources. Methodology: The data were obtained through a self-administered survey completed by 4,107 youths, aged from 15 to 25 years old, living in marginalized communities in six regions, namely Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, Sabah, and Sarawak. Descriptive and factor analyses were used to analyze the data. Pearson correlation was also run to test the hypothesis that digital engagement is positively related to political and civic participation. Results: The study found that while youths were digitally engaged, their engagement was still characterized by basic use of the Internet, such as communicating with friends. The study also found that their civic and political participation is low. However, the research found that digital engagement had a significant and positive impact on the youths' political and civic participation. Implication: This research provides empirical data on the level of digital engagement, political and civic participation among Malaysian youths. The study expands on current literatures by examining the effects of Internet on youth participation. This paper offers insights to policy makers on implementing strategies and programs that promote participation among youth in marginalized communities. Its practical implication also includes contributing towards the development of specific policy and good practices on media to encourage youth participation in Malaysia

Digital Engagement, Political and Civic Participation

Objective: This paper examines the digital engagement, political and civic participation among Malaysian youth in marginalized communities.  It also studies the relationship between digital engagement and two participation constructs. The framework of the study was based on mobilization theories, which suggested that previously unavailable technologies such as the Internet could mobilize members of underprivileged or underrepresented groups who lack socioeconomic resources. Methodology: The data were obtained through a self-administered survey completed by 4,107 youths, aged from 15 to 25 years old, living in marginalized communities in six regions, namely Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, Sabah, and Sarawak. Descriptive and factor analyses were used to analyze the data. Pearson correlation was also run to test the hypothesis that digital engagement is positively related to political and civic participation. Results: The study found that while youths were digitally engaged, their engagement was still characterized by basic use of the Internet, such as communicating with friends. The study also found that their civic and political participation is low. However, the research found that digital engagement had a significant and positive impact on the youths' political and civic participation. Implication: This research provides empirical data on the level of digital engagement, political and civic participation among Malaysian youths. The study expands on current literatures by examining the effects of Internet on youth participation. This paper offers insights to policy makers on implementing strategies and programs that promote participation among youth in marginalized communities. Its practical implication also includes contributing towards the development of specific policy and good practices on media to encourage youth participation in Malaysia

Youth lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation as research variables – are we measuring it right?

This paper aim to highlight some of issues arose in measuring youth lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation. These variables were part of a nationwide survey titled “Youth in the marginalised society: From the Transitional to the Generational Approach.” This issue need attention due to the fact that the fast changing technologies are affecting youth lifestyles as well as their digital engagement and political participation. It has never happened before. During the newspapers, radio and television technology, life is very slow. There was a clear demarcation between sources and recipients. However, with the web 2.0 technology which allows for users to become producers, it certainly changed the entire media landscape. The changes are affecting youth lifestyles, digital engagement as well as the nature of their political participation hence the question are we measuring it right? Literatures shows that lifestyles can be measured based on three dimensions, namely behaviour, interest and preferences as well as attitudes. However, in the study above, two dimensions namely behaviour and interest were used to measure youth lifestyles. Does measuring youth lifestyle based on two dimensions is right? Further analysis lead to a conclusion that it was possible to measure youth lifestyle based on two dimensions. Internet usage as a variable has been used by most researcher and it was defined mostly in relation to the time spent on-line. However, the recent trend called for more rigorous measurement than time spent online. Hence, the digital engagement variables were developed to measure the youth engagement on the internet. The discussion shows that these variables seem to be measuring what it supposed to measure. The final variable is political participation. The issue about this variable is related to whether its measure the online or the offline political participation. This is because Collins (2008) argued that young people realised internet as a legitimate online political participation. The discussion found that the measurement used in this study to measure political participation was to measure offline political participation. This need to be reviewed as the findings could lead to the wrong conclusion. Asking this simple question of ‘are we measuring it right’ would probably highlight the weaknesses of the existing measurement and provide better understanding of how we could ask the right questions particularly in the context of fast changing environment surrounding the youth

Parties vs. partisans: the real contest about what memes mean in election campaigns

This article examines the different use of internet memes between political party organisations and partisan spaces. We analyse the relationship between organisational logics and memes as a genre characterised by participation. We conduct a mixed-methods analysis of the internet memes posted by five Australian political parties, their youth branches, and partisan meme spaces during the 2022 Australian federal election. We identify three styles of memetic content created by political parties and partisans: professional, generic, and participatory. We argue that these different kinds of meme each relate to particular organisational logics, with the hierarchical structures of professional election campaigns largely hollowing out the participatory potential of internet memes in both production and form

Empty Streets, Active Feeds: Moroccan Youth Activism in the Age of Social Media

Since the February 20 movement in 2011, Morocco has not witnessed large waves of political activism from its young population. However, Moroccan youth are not inactive citizens, and it would be a mischaracterization to call young Moroccans apolitical or disinterested. Rather, Moroccan youth are finding new ways to interact with political and social issues. With the increase in access to the Internet over the last fifteen years, social media has become an important forum for Moroccan youth, who have often felt marginalized from more traditional forms of political participation like unions and political parties. This research explores the ways that Moroccan youth use political activism on social media to confirm and challenge their identities, looking specifically at the cultural and political contexts that define the way young Moroccans create and view content. Using the World Values Survey, Power 2 Youth research, and qualitative interviews, this research finds that while Moroccans under the age of 29 are limited in their political activity in traditional methods, they use social media as a forum to express their activist leanings and feelings toward current events, while still maintaining a careful awareness of their commentary on and relationship toward the state