An IBM Center for The Business of Government report on civic engagement contends that successful civic engagement efforts are those that cater for and understand the different levels of involvement required by citizens in relation to the different issues local government deals with or services they provide (Lukensmeyer and Torres, 2006). It is important for local government to decide what role young people will play in a certain decision and whether they want to consult, collaborate, empower or simply inform youth. It is crucial to balance the desire for citizens to get involved with the need for local government to ensure that deliberation is not too costly or time-consuming as this could hinder the successful implementation of policy (Accenture, 2007).
Traditionally local government has been focussed on the base level of engagement with the public which is to inform them to help increase the understand of the various problems which affect their lives as well as the actions the council proposes to take to remedy this. However in many situations citizens are increasingly calling for deeper engagement with local government and the ability to authentically interact and influence these organisations (Accenture, 2007).
Youth will likely require greater levels of engagement with local government policy-making when the issues being considered are seen to be of interest or relevant to the lives of young people. When this engagement is demanded, the onus is on local government to provide an opportunity for authentic and outcome-based deliberation which is convenient for youth to take part in. Alternatively there will be situations where demanding high level consultation from young people will be counter-productive (often when an issue is seen to be too complicated, ‘boring’ or irrelevant to have mass youth-appeal) and in these situations it is probably more useful to simply provide for the openness and transparency in decision-making through the dissemination of information.
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