Youth Civic Engagement in the United States: Understanding and Addressing the Impact of Social Impediments on Positive Youth and Community Development

Abstract

The topic of civic engagement has come to the forefront of many recent discussions about the positive and healthy development of youth. Researchers and practitioners writing about youth civic engagement agree that civic engagement has short- and long-term benefits for youth and for society. These benefits have been discussed in terms of youth psychological well-being, academic achievement, and contributions to the social and political fabric of the country, including the promotion of civil society. Despite the general support across the past few decades for civic endeavors involving young people, such support has been largely absent for youth living in communities deprived of opportunities for civic experience or composed of critical masses of youth and adults willing to become civically engaged. This article discusses the benefits of youth civic engagement for youth and societies and the nature and role of contemporary social impediments to youth civic engagement in the United States.