Political activity and political participation of youth: problems and opportunities

Political participation of youth is activity by which means young people can, individually or within the framework of political parties, youth movements, organizations, groups with a different degree of rationality in various conventional or non-conventional forms, try to influence the functioning, transformation or development of a political system, showing the activity in youth politics. During any significant socio-political process, especially of transitive type, traditional kinds of political participation of youth are improved and new kinds appear. In the conditions of postmodernist transformation, there is a necessity of additional verification of norms of political activity. Prompt development of information-network technologies of «postmodernism» changes the traditional, settled ideas about forms, methods, and criteria of estimation of political participation of the youth. Researches of governmental and public institutions in Kuzbass testify to their insufficient influence on the dynamics of the processes in the sphere of youth politics. A decrease in trust to these institutions among the youth is observed.The factor that weakens the political system of Russia is the shadow sphere of youth politics. There is a strengthening thrust of administrative paternalism on the youth from the state structures, heads of high schools, enterprises, military structures; the politics of conscious deterioration of political culture, the formation of mass political amorphism. The youth in Russian politics does not represent an independent subject; usually youth actions are carried out under the patronage of the party in power, of regional authorities. Formally recognizing a wide set of the rights and freedoms, the Russian Federation does not provide an opportunity of their practical realisation. Thus, the discrepancy of political system is obvious in what concerns creating the conditions for political participation of the youth. The proportion of the youth in representative and executive powers is very insignificant. The youth has no democratic leverage on power structures. The majority of youth organizations are not independent. All this proves the necessity to make he problem of political participation of the youth a priority direction of youth policy of the state

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