Raising Their Voices: How Effective Are Pro-Youth Laws and Policies?

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Raising Their Voices: How Effective Are Pro-Youth Laws and Policies? Raising Their Voices: How effective are pro-youth laws and policies? Source: NDI I International Foundation F E for Electoral Systems S Raising Their Voices: How effective are pro-youth laws and policies? Copyright © 2019 Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS). All rights reserved. Portions of this work may be reproduced and/or translated for non-commercial purposes provided CEPPS is acknowledged as the source of the material and is sent copies of any translation. Send copies to: Attention: CEPPS Administrative Director Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 [email protected] Disclaimer: This publication was made possible through the support provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................2 National Youth Policy Strategies ...........................................................................................................................3 Minimum Ages for Voting and Candidacy .......................................................................................................4 Youth Quotas ...................................................................................................................................................................4 Political Party Youth Wings ......................................................................................................................................5 Areas of Priority Research ........................................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF PRO-YOUTH PARTICIPATORY MECHANISMS ..................................... 6 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................7 The State of Research on Mechanisms for Youth Participation ........................................................7 Research Framework: Impact and Symbolism of Youth Participatory Mechanisms .............8 Report Roadmap .........................................................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 2: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY STRATEGIES ......................................................................... 12 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................14 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................15 National Youth Policy Strategy Definition ...................................................................................................16 Features .............................................................................................................................................................................17 Definition of Youth .....................................................................................................................................................17 Goals and Objectives ................................................................................................................................................19 Action Plan or Action Items .................................................................................................................................20 Agenda Setting ..............................................................................................................................................................21 Coordination ..................................................................................................................................................................22 Budgeting ..........................................................................................................................................................................23 Immediate Engagement ...........................................................................................................................................24 Implementation Issues ..............................................................................................................................................26 Resource Allocation ...................................................................................................................................................27 Coordination/Redundancy .....................................................................................................................................27 Accountability ................................................................................................................................................................28 Technical Expertise .....................................................................................................................................................28 Political Incentives ........................................................................................................................................................29 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................................30 iii Raising Their Voices: How effective are pro-youth laws and policies? CONTENTS CHAPTER 3: MINIMUM AGES FOR VOTING AND CANDIDACIES ....................................................33 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................35 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................36 Lowering the Age of Voter Eligibility ...............................................................................................................37 Rights-Based Arguments for Lowering the Voting Age ...............................................................39 Utility-Based Arguments for Lowering the Voting Age ...............................................................40 Youth Voter Turnout ..................................................................................................................................40 Strengthening Citizenship and Democracy ..................................................................................44 Impact on Electoral and Policy Outcomes ...................................................................................47 Subnational Elections: A Testing Ground? ............................................................................................48 Lowering the Age of Candidate Eligibility.....................................................................................................50 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................................52 CHAPTER 4: YOUTH QUOTAS ........................................................................................................................ 57 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................59 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................60 Global Snapshot: Youth Quotas.........................................................................................................................61 Reserved Seat Quotas ......................................................................................................................................63 Legislated Candidate Quotas .......................................................................................................................63 Political Party Quotas ........................................................................................................................................65 Do Youth Quotas Increase the Number of Young People Elected to Public Office? ......66 Designing an Inclusive Quota ...............................................................................................................................68 Differing Rationales for Quotas ..........................................................................................................................70 Does Greater Youth Representation in Elected Bodies Produce Better Policy Outcomes for Youth? ................................................................................................................................................72 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................................74
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