Youth in the shadows: An urgent call for meaningful participation

For more than 2,400 years, "young people" have been a perennial cause for complaint. Socrates' and Plato's accusations are still topical because politicians and citizens all around the world are still blaming youth for their failure: The myth of youth disenchantment with politics is spreading - disregarding the fact that they are active citizens, just not in the same ways as previous generations were. Young people are expressing their opinions by demonstrating, protesting, volunteering in associations and via digital and social media.

But being active citizens in a democracy does not automatically lead to awareness about your point of view. Government decisions and legislation are made by politicians who are chosen by parties with an older membership and elected mostly by older voters. The demographic change is pushing young people into being a minority and less important...