Apparent political apathy among youth in the United States has led to a moral panic about the future of democracy. Many researchers question the facts, while others seek to engage and mobilize young people around public issues they care about in order to master the citizen role and to bring social change. Civic youth work has its modern roots in…

We propose civic youth work as a new craft orientation in the family of child and youth care, education, social work, recreation and other relevant semi-to-full professions. We envision this practice as based in the philosophies and practical sciences of pedagogy, politics, and human development. The ideal-type civic youth worker will have a…

Reading the formal descriptions of youth civic engagement projects shows that some emphasize citizenship almost to the exclusion of young person, while others emphasize young people to the exclusion of citizenship. Who and what are the youth, the young people and young persons in the three youth civic engagement initiatives? And how are these…

The concept of citizenship is a central, necessary, and defining feature of youth civic engagement. Any effort to educate young people for citizenship entails an implicit idea of what a "good citizen" is. There are a number of different and sometimes competing versions of what is a "good citizen." This chapter reviews "standard" accounts of…

The purpose of this study was to learn more specific research questions and hypotheses for more rigorous research about the life situation and personal experiences of youths who work. 272 youths were interviewed. Select findings from 51 cases are presented on the youth's orientation to their future. (Author/RC)

"I want to make a difference," say young people involved in Youth-in-Government, Public Achievement, and Youth Science Center. And we believe that they mean it. Indeed, the power and meaning of these projects lies in the spaces each creates for young people to do precisely that-work on meaningful issues on which they can "make a difference" beyond…