Political and Civic Engagement in Youth

Antithetical patterns of youth political and civic engagement have been observed in recent years. Many young people are uninterested in politics and political participation, whereas others are highly engaged political actors. The patterns of their engagement and participation are changing and new forms of activism have appeared with the increasing use of new technologies and social media. With the social fabric becoming endangered in certain areas by political and economic changes, it is important to understand young people's positions towards politics and the factors that lead some youngsters to be politically active and others not. In this collection of studies, social psychology partners with developmental psychology in order to focus on young people's political and civic engagement and investigate how young people politicize and what factors lead to their political actions