THE ROLE OF Young people IN the Democratic process

1
THE ROLE OF Young people IN the Democratic
process

• Presentation by Henry Charles, Regional
  Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme
  Caribbean Centre.
• The Valley, Anguilla March 2007

2
THESIS

• Young people can and should play a critical role
  in the democratic process.
• Young people must be empowered to become active
  participants in and beneficiaries of the
  democratic process.

3
PERSPECTIVES OF DEMOCRACY

• POPULAR DEMOCRACY
• PEOPLES POWER
• SOCIALIST DEMOCRACY
• SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
• US STYLE DEMOCRACY
• WESTMINISTER DEMOCRACY

4
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY

• CONSTITUTION
• PARLIAMENT
• EXECUTIVE ARM
• JUDICIARY
• LAW AND ORDER
• PUBLIC SERVICE
• CIVIL SOCIETY

5
ELEMENTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

• Recognition and protection of fundamental Human
  Rights (freedom of expression, etc,)
• Independent Judiciary
• Adult Suffrage (right to vote)
• Electoral System ( political parties,
• Public Policy (formulation, implementation and
  evaluation)
• Economic empowerment and Social inclusion
• Professional Public Service
• Rule of Law (legislation, police)
• Private sector
• Civil society

6
OUR DEMOCRATIC PROCESS FORM OR SUBSTANCE?
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS OUR EXPECTATIONS ACTUAL PERFORMANCE
FREEDOM OF EXP. ADULT SUFFRAGE ELECTIONS LAWS Participation Avenues to express views. Exercising right to vote Effective/just laws Good governance Professional political parties Limited opportunities for effective participation. Increasing voter apathy Inadequacy of some legislation. Antiquated political structures
SEPERATION OF POWER Constitution Independence of Judiciary Supremacy of Constitution and parliament. Conflict between authority and functions of Organs. Irrelevance of constitutions
POLICY FORMULATION/IMPLEMENTATION. Effective policies Peoples participation Policies are sometimes ineffective and not formulated with participation. Lack of transparency and accountability.
HUMAN RIGHTS Protection of basic rights. Many concerns regarding human rights issues.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL INCLUSION. Equal opportunities Sound economic/social policies. Widening gap between social groups. Increased poverty.
PUBLIC SERVICES Efficient and professional Public Service Many questions/concerns regarding efficiency and professionalism
7
YOUTH IMPERATIVE

• Ineffective youth development strategies
• Social problems and challenges have
  disproportionate impact on youth.
• Deformed youth participation strategies
• Absence of sustainable youth leadership
  development programmes.
• Social exclusion
• Deformed Juvenile justice systems
• Problem based approach to youth development.

8
The verdict

• FORM basic outline, structures of democratic
  process are evident.
• SUBSTANCE our democratic processes are fragile,
  inefficient and in need of urgent reform. A
  source of increasing discontent and alienation.

9
ENHANCING THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS- ACTION POINTS

• CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
• IMPROVING THE LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FORMULATION
  PROCESS.
• ENHANCING THE CAPACITY OF THE STATE TO FACILITATE
  ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
• REFORM AND MODERNIZATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES
• REFORM AND MODERNIZATION OF TRADE UNIONS AND
  OTHER CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS.
• ENHANCE THE QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW
  ENFORCEMENT SYSTEMS.
• ESTABLISH APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION, POLICIES AND
  PROTOCOLS TO ENHANCE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN
  GOVERNANCE.

10
ACTION POINTS

• Reform of the electoral process
• Reform of the juvenile justice system.
• Institute effective local government systems.
• National youth policies- strategic youth
  development plans.

11
CITIZEN YOUTH - RIGHTS

• Young people have a right to sustainable
  livelihoods.
• They have a right to be active participants in
  the governance and development of their
  communities.

12
ROLE OF YOUNG PEOPLE

• Change agents
• Leadership
• Advocacy
• Voters
• Public education/building social and political
  consciousness
• Formulation, implementation and evaluation of
  public policy

13
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT WHY?

• CYP believes that young people who are empowered
  by their societies can be a force of great
  contribution and advancement both for themselves
  and their countries. We also believe that young
  people who are marginalized and disempowered by
  their societies can quickly become disillusioned
  and may try to empower themselves through extreme
  measures (Executive Summary, CYP 2006/2008
  Strategic Plan)

14
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT HOW?

• Adopt a rights and asset based approach to youth
  development.
• Provide an enabling environment for effective
  youth participation
• Establish effective strategies/mechanisms to
  facilitate economic empowerment and social
  inclusion of young people.
• Improve the quality and accessibility of social
  services for young people.
• Increase public investment in youth development.
• Mainstreaming youth development

15
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

• Create an enabling environment for the
  development and upgrading of youth groups and
  youth networks.
• Support the implementation of a massive
  programme of civic education and leadership
  development for young people.
• Facilitate the implementation of strategies to
  enhance youth accessibility and competence in
  ICT.
• Political parties and other civic groups must
  engage in a process of modernization and
  democratization to improve their relevance to
  young people. They must also adopt appropriate
  policies and structures to facilitate effective
  youth participation in their decision making
  processes.
• Develop and mainstream more effective employment
  and micro-enterprise programmes for young people.

16
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

• Provide adequate support for the development and
  promotion of youth artistic and creative
  abilities.
• Consider new and more efficient methods of
  increasing access to tertiary education.
• Create avenues for existing youth parliaments to
  more effectively influence public policy.
• Consider reducing the eligible voting age to 16
  years (this may serve as a powerful incentive to
  enhance the creativity, relevance, attractiveness
  and dynamism of political parties in particular
  and the electoral process, generally)

17
Let all ideas contend!!!

• THANK YOU