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Chapter 10: The “Youth” in Youth Civic Engagement

SUMMARY Reading the formal descriptions of youth civic engagement projects shows that some emphasize citizenship almost to the exclusion of young person, while others emphasize young people to the exclusion of citizenship. Who and what are the youth, the young people and young persons in the three youth civic engagement initiatives? And how are these conceptions brought together with conceptions of citizen? Citizen is often explicitly or implicitly age-graded, with laws and practices restricting young people from authentic and consequential civic engagement. Data are used to suggest that interest in public issues is also age-graded. So too are structures of opportunity for young people to be authentically involved in public issues in public groups and organizations. These issues are examined through the lens of chronological age as used in developmental and constructionist conceptions of youth and then these perspectives are used to read youth civic engagement.