Developmental Roots of Political Engagement

The evolving values and world views of young people can advance understanding of the kinds of people they are becoming and the kind of polity they will create as they replace their elders in society. The social incorporation of young people into the body politic and the development of habits that sustain the political system are rooted in the experiences young people have of membership in the institutions of their communities and the exercise of rights and fulfillment of responsibilities in those institutions. By engaging in community affairs, young people reinterpret the social contract and create both stability and change in the system. In so doing, they develop democratic dispositions and they learn what it means to identify with the common good.