Many political parties have “youth
wings,” extensions of parties that provide a space for young people to
meaningfully participate and develop their skills alongside the main party
structure. These extensions of the main party structure have been used to
counter declining youth political party membership.
Youth wings generally serve four
different functions, all of which could provide entry points to enhance youth
political participation.
- Youth wings are powerbases for their
members, facilitating networking and the formation of personal and/or
issue-based alliances.
- Youth wings can provide a training
ground for young members who wish to excel within party structures. Examples of
training include skill-building workshops, mentoring programmes, and policy
development activities.
- Youth wings can be a place for young
people to influence party policy development and leadership selection. Assuming the youth wing has been given
adequate powers, this party extension can provide a fresh outlook on potentially
outdated policies and ideas.
- Youth wings can extend outreach to
young voters, in a bid to make parties more credible to young people. Youth
wings can be a useful resource for creating the appropriate language, platform,
material and tone in communicating political messages to younger voting bases
during election and recruitment campaigns.
Political party leadership, however,
has not always taken youth wings seriously, especially if they do not agree on
policy. An example of not taking youth wings seriously, is when their mandates
are limited to supporting campaigns and/or recruiting new party members. In
such instances, they often are given no power to influence nomination
processes, set agendas or write party manifestos.
When youth wings are set up correctly
they can provide a space that helps to overcome the obstacles young people face
in participating in electoral internal party processes.
