In 2007, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that September 15 would be formally recognised as the International Day of Democracy (IDD). The IDD provides an opportunity to remember that “democracy is as much a process as a goal”, which requires manifold support to be made effective. This year’s theme “Empowering the Next Generation” stresses the importance of engaging young people and emphasises that their active participation is crucial in nurturing democracy.

At a time of increasing polarisation and disconnection between citizens and institutions, some key questions come to mind : Why do young people engage or disengage with politics and political participation? Which means do they take into consideration to bring about social and political change? What can inspire them to participate in democratic politics?

Capturing young people’s political contributions calls for a broad and dynamic framework. Youth participation in formal politics seems to decrease when we assess voter turnouts in a number of democratic countries. Yet, youth movements have played an essential role in democratic debates, for example in articulating environmental justice claims. Not only have they placed the issue in a framework of intergenerational justice, but they have also done so at a broader international level. Protest and engagement need to be looked at jointly in order to make sense of youth democratic practices — and those of the citizenry at large.

Furthermore, new digital public spaces have been redefining and redesigning political participation. Young people actively take part in these spaces and directly experience the vulnerabilities linked to the online environment. As social media tends to reinforce existing social inequalities, social inequalities in civic engagement may be deepening over time for young people. At the same time, innovations that have an impact on democratic processes may, precisely, arise from youth engagement in this digital space.

Finally, while framing youth political participation, it is important to go beyond “generationalism”, which suggests that young people of a certain age constitute a homogeneous group. It is more accurate and productive to think of a “social generation”, which is not about age, as such, but about shared social, political and economic contexts and understandings that differ from the previous generation.

These debates on youth participation are key not only in reflecting  on the state of democracy, but also in thinking about the social fabric of a democratic polity.
 

In Geneva, the Canton marks the IDD through a dedicated “Democracy Week” scheduled this year from 9 to 14 October 2023. The Graduate Institute’s Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy is an active partner and hosts a series of events with a particular focus on youth political participation.