Do youth policies matter? National and local youth policies as contexts of youth participation

Abstract

This chapter analyses the diversity of practices enacted in the different contexts of local youth participation in the framework of local contexts and local youth policies. It aims to develop the general framework of youth participation set by national youth policies. The chapter explains a typology of participation under the influence of youth policy models in order to highlight the way different mechanisms and settings of youth participation can be ascribed to different youth policy choices at local levels. It presents the local youth participation initiatives in the eight cities and then the characteristics of the local youth policies in which they are embedded. The chapter addresses following question: To what extent and how does the diversity of local youth participation initiatives depend on the local and national youth policies in which they are embedded? In order to understand the second framing element of local youth participation initiatives, the analysis widens the focus from local to national youth policies.