How Local Government should respond to the issue of Youth disengagement from politics is related to the theory of citizenship which they prescribe to. The two main competing theories of contemporary citizenship have been included below:
Competitive Elitism
- Traditional conception of citizenship and is largely legalistic in nature.
- Local Government only has an obligation to protect the political, economic, and social freedoms of its citizens.
- Local Government has no responsibility to provide individuals with an opportunity to act as active citizens or facilitate collaboration between government and citizens.
- Elite voices (councillors, mayors and policy advisors) are usually the only ones considered during the design of Local Government policy or services, and they would rarely seek to collaborate with Youth.
- The relationship between Local Government and Youth is strictly hierarchical in nature and the two groups only intercept only during elections.
- This form of citizenship has been viewed by many scholars as a cause of the high levels of alienation that citizens feel from Local Government, resulting in low voter turnout and engagement (Henneberg et al., 2009; Lees-Marshment, 2009; Odugbemi and Jacobson, 2008).
Active Citizenship
- Contingent on the ‘active participation’ of citizens, viewing participation as a right and responsibility of citizens- especially where the decision-making process intersects with their lives.
- Demands that local government focuses on the ‘demand side’ of politics- the need to respond to citizens demands in relation to service provision and consultation.
- The demands emphasised are usually increased: transparency, accountability, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, user-focussed service provision, and consultation.
- Policy development is usually informed by extensive consultation with all segments of the electorate.
- This form of governance is seen as reflecting the changes in the electoral market that have taken place since the 1960’s, especially growing voter dissatisfaction with the functioning of local government previously.
- However this theory of citizenship has also been criticised as being ‘crudely utilitarian’, promoting self-interest, and reliant on the assumption that citizens know what is in their own best interests and how to advance them through public policy (Atkinson, 2010).
(Analysis synthesised from: Henneberg et al., 2009; and Odugbemi and Jacobson, 2008)
While individual councillors or Mayors have right to prescribe to whichever conception of citizenship suits them best it is important to note that scholars have found that in Western Democracies, the public is increasingly advocating for politics to be enacted through the lens of active citizenship and it is local government’s perceived failure to do so that is partly to blame for the wide-scale public disengagement from politics (Henneberg et al., 2009).
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