Participation of youth in the political life of modern Russia
In modern Russia, youth is that active dynamic element that is constantly changing its role and place in the political life of the country, and in society as a whole. From the former spontaneous forms of participation in politics, young people are gradually beginning to move towards structured and orderly participation, which is expressed in the formation and development of youth socio-political institutions, such as youth organizations, movements, parties. Not so long ago, young people were the very social group whose influence on public political processes was minimized. Nevertheless, every year, the number of girls and boys who are not indifferent to politics is becoming more and more. Young people are beginning to understand the need to participate in politics earlier, associating this with the fact that their participation can change the state and the people living in it for the better. In modern political realities, the successful integration of youth into social relations, the effective use of its innovative potential is becoming one of the most important conditions for political development.
As of October 2015, the youth of the Russian Federation is 28.742 million young citizens (aged 15-29 years) - 19% of the total population of the country (146,267 million people). The category of youth in Russia includes citizens of Russia from 14 to 30 years old. The involvement of young people in the political process is formed with the help of such components as political institutions, political and legal culture (including political values, ideology, etc.), political socialization, and political participation. In this regard, it is necessary to modernize and improve this entire set of measures.
Since 2005, researchers have been actively conducting various surveys and questionnaires on the topic of "political activity of youth" in order to determine the level of political activity and political participation among young people. This was necessary in order to understand what thoughts, ideas and moods were the most popular among the youth at that time. After 2010, large-scale surveys were not conducted, because we did not find any results of large-scale surveys in the country. It can be assumed that this is a) due to stability in the political arena and the presence of a dominant political party, and b) the lack of interest among researchers in creating new methods for attracting young people to politics, since the methods developed before were convenient and of high quality, and c) young people have ceased make bets in election races because of their low activity with a variety of approaches to them, and therefore there is no need to know their moods. But speaking frankly, certain processes that artificially or naturally hovered in the youth community for a long time led to this, because smart, literate youth are not always convenient for the authorities. The activity of young people is greatly influenced by legal culture, the level of political self-awareness and education, it is they who determine the level, frequency and depth of youth participation in the political life of the country. The level of legal culture is directly proportional to the level of civic activity, the ability to provide feedback with the state, to defend one's position on various issues.
In a glossary on political psychology, D.V. Olshansky, gives a definition of political self-consciousness, by which he proposes to understand "the process and result of the development of a relatively stable conscious system of representations of the subject of political relations about himself in the socio-political plan, on the basis of which the subject purposefully builds his relationships with other subjects and objects of politics both inside socio-political system, as well as outside it, and refers to itself. In this regard, we consider it especially important to have a well-formed political self-consciousness among young people, since they are the most flexible and unstable group of the population, it is easy to persuade them to any action if they manage to find the right levers of influence. It must be borne in mind that in order to form a correct self-consciousness, which would be based on the principles of peace, human freedoms and democracy, proper political education is necessary. Kodzhaspirova G.M. in the pedagogical dictionary defines political education as "the formation of political consciousness among students, reflecting the relations between states, nations, parties, and the ability to understand them from spiritual, moral and ethical positions" . Only under the condition of the correct and positive influence of political education on the consciousness of a young person, an increase in the political activity of young people and their integration into politics can occur. There is an inextricable link between political education and self-awareness, which is built on the construction of various values and the formation of the ideology of a young person. And for this it is necessary to have a sufficient level of political culture. After all, if a person himself does not understand what its value is and why it is generally necessary to participate in politics, believing that his participation will not bring anything useful, then he will not be able to broadcast a positive view of politics, negatively influencing others and introducing doubt into the minds of other people. Man is a being who is very strongly influenced from outside; he, like a sponge, absorbs those thoughts and that attitude towards political power that seems to him the most convincing. Each of us has heard words like these: “what can I do?”, “these are not my problems”, “nothing will change anyway” - these phrases are regularly heard from the lips of the older generation, and the younger one absorbs and accepts it. The generation of adults inspires the young that their participation will not change anything. The main role in this process is played by the institution of the family, of course. After all, it is from small things that transformations and changes begin, first in a person, then in his environment, society, and then in the city and finally the country. But the truth is actually simple - if everyone starts to take part in politics, to use their constitutional rights, then the country will change dramatically, corruption, malfeasance, election fraud will disappear, many crimes will no longer be hushed up. After all, the people themselves release it all on the “brake”, believing that their participation will not change anything, not realizing that millions of people think this way, thereby giving rise to processes about which they themselves speak.
Over the past 15 years, there has been an active search for various methods and means of attracting young people to politics, to participate in it. The activities of state parties and public organizations to work with the young electorate have intensified. To begin with, it was the creation of youth organizations under the patronage of the presidential administration, their characteristic actions were mass public actions that had a pronounced socio-political character. The creation of youth branches of political parties, such as Yabloko and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, also took place. The state tried to stimulate the political activity of young people by attracting them to participate in specific socio-political actions and projects. This was followed by the creation in 2005 of mass youth public organizations (“Nashi”, “Young Guard”), which opened representative offices in most Russian regions. Until today, the Young Guards and the youth wing of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, as well as the LDPR, have remained active, which has begun to position itself as a young party with a large number of young deputies. Another wave of correct actions in relation to youth was the creation of two public advisory bodies under the federal law-making body - the Federal Assembly of Russia. Under the Federation Council, a Chamber of Young Legislators was created, consisting of young deputies from all regions of our country, and under the State Duma, a youth parliament, which united young parliamentarians from all 85 regions. This approach has clearly increased the interest of young people in participating in politics and political processes in the country, giving them confidence that they can influence some processes, directly conveying the voice of young people not only in regions, but also in small towns and settlements farthest from the center corners of Russia. Of course, I don’t want to say that this surge of interest in youth issues and the desire to hear their voices is connected with the upcoming elections to the State Duma, but we have already followed this scenario at various times. I would like this to become an exception to the rule and the state has finally begun to make serious bets on the younger generation, which, based on its ambitions and expectations, can follow the path of reforms and transformations without any fear. Today, this is especially important because the rules that the world community dictates to us are becoming tougher and more unfair, which means that other internal mechanisms will need to be launched very soon.
Summing up, I would like to note that the political activity of young people is one of the most important factors in the development of the political system and the formation of statehood in general. In order to increase the participation of young people in politics and political processes, it is necessary to introduce a clear and structured system of propaganda work to the masses, starting from the school bench. It is necessary to begin the formation of a civil ideology from the 5th grade through school self-government. As for the older age, it is necessary to change the worldview and views of people, through real examples of control over politicians and political decisions, instilling the right political education and holding honest, and most importantly voluntary, various political events based on ideology.
Introduction
Politics, always associated with the problem of power, is increasingly interested in Russian youth. She begins to understand that in specific historical conditions, politics can have a great impact either on accelerating or slowing down the social progress of society, and hence on the position and social status of the youth themselves.
The increase in the social weight of young people and the growth of the youth movement in recent years have stimulated interest in youth problems on the part of scientists, especially sociologists and political scientists.
The place and role of youth in the political life of society
youth politics
Youth is a socio-demographic group, singled out on the basis of a combination of age characteristics, features of the social status due to those and other socio-psychological properties. Youth occupies an important place in the socio-demographic structure and socio-political life of society.
The youth is socially heterogeneous and its various detachments (workers, peasants, students, urban and rural) have their own specific interests. The position and problems of young people in developed and developing countries are significantly different. Therefore, young people do not represent a single political and ideological force. Political leaders have always attached great positive importance to youth, since it is they who largely decide the outcome of the political struggle. Of course, it is necessary to take into account both the age and socio-psychological specifics of young people, due to the historically inevitable differences between different generations. As you know, young people react differently to changes in the political situation in the country than the older generation.
Young people have always aspired to an active political life. It should be noted that already in the first half of the XIX century. young people, mostly students, united in their unions, took part in the struggle against despotism, in the national liberation movement. In the second half of the XIX century. in addition to youth organizations that support the revolutionary movement, Christian youth organizations are being created (the World Alliance of Young Christians, the World Association of Young Women Christians, the World Federation of Christian Students, etc.).
At the beginning of the twentieth century. Unions of socialist working youth were organized in almost all countries of Western Europe. In 1907, a socialist youth international was created, and after the revolution of 1917 in Russia, a communist youth international.
On November 10, 1945, the Great Conference of Democratic Youth (there were representatives from 63 countries) decided to establish the World Federation of Democratic Youth to promote understanding and cooperation among young people in all areas of society, the fight against social, national and racial oppression, for the peace and security of peoples for the rights of youth. Since then November 10 has been celebrated as World Youth Day.
These are facts of an organizational nature, but they just reveal the strength and power of the youth. For example, the unparalleled scale of student protests at the end of the 60s revealed a huge increase in their political activity and political radicalism, a growing awareness by students of the relationship between the higher education system and the prevailing socio-political relations. This gave rise to some scientists (G. Marcuse) to declare the youth a decisive revolutionary force, the vanguard of the working masses.
The objective regularities of social development in modern Russia more and more clearly show the growing importance of youth in the political life of the country. Today we have a completely new situation compared to the 1970s and 1980s, when young people mostly showed a cool attitude towards politics or even shunned it. This was due to the firm conviction that people of a more mature age, who had reached a certain hierarchical level in the party or Komsomol, should be engaged in politics.
The profound socio-economic and political changes taking place in Russian society are seriously affecting the political behavior of the younger generation. First, there is a general activation of the political consciousness of young people, which finds expression in an intensive discussion of acute social issues and in a critical examination of the answers to these questions proposed by various political forces. Secondly, the desire to understand the actual state of affairs on their own leads to the fact that the social thinking of young men and women, previously focused on solving personal consumer problems of everyday life and everyday life, is increasingly becoming intertwined with political thinking, which gives rise to new needs, interests and values. Thirdly, increasing awareness of political processes directly affects the way young people think and act: their conformism decreases, traditional schemes for explaining social contradictions are reassessed, and intensive searches are underway for new radical solutions to emerging issues.
The August events of 1991 and the September-October events of 1993 gave the strongest impetus to the sharp politicization of the mass consciousness of young people. Young people, especially those who directly participated in these events, suddenly felt that they were individuals capable of influencing politics and even the nature of the political system as a whole.
In the conditions of political pluralism that has been established in the country, the leaders of various parties, movements and associations have begun to make a serious bet on young people, seducing them with freedom and unprecedented opportunities for self-realization of the individual. All Russian politicians are now fighting for the votes of young people, which was especially evident during the election campaigns of 1995 and 1996.
Teams of experienced propagandists and agitators are developing a special methodology for involving young people in the political process, in which special attention is paid to the variety of forms and methods of working with them. These include regular sociological research, questioning, and invitations (often nominal ones) to various party-political events: demonstrations, rallies, meetings, discussions, etc. In addition, today a purposeful newspaper-magazine and radio-television flow of information falls upon young people. The main goal is to arouse increased interest in political events taking place primarily in the country, and to win over one or another layer of young people: the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the agrarians - working and peasant youth, Yabloko - student and scientific and technical, LDPR - military, Demorossia - employees of trade, etc.
The desire of various political forces to win over the youth is not a random whim of their leaders. This is a serious social base. Indeed, today in our country every fourth inhabitant is a young man under the age of 30 years. And this is almost 40 percent of the most able-bodied population. Of these, over 25 million are employed in industry and off-duty education. At the same time, every third young person was unemployed as of January 1, 1995, and more than 80 percent of the young unemployed received benefits. And this is without taking into account the so-called hidden unemployment.
Ignoring many social issues (for example, young people are provided with housing twice as bad as the national average), mistakes in the choice of means, methods, goals for the development and education of the young generation, a sudden vacuum of values, ambiguity of life prospects, deformation of previously familiar conditions and lifestyle are the main factors that lead to the alienation of young people from the real socio-political processes in society. The indifference and indifference to politics that exists among some of the youth with a low cultural and educational level and an undeveloped political consciousness is directly reflected in the ability to think and reason independently, analyze social phenomena and give them a correct assessment. This, in addition to those mentioned, is influenced by other factors: social origin, material security, social status, profession, degree of awareness, the surrounding microenvironment, traditions, habits, religiosity, etc. As a rule, it is this part of the youth that does not take part in elections, in various political actions, and joins the ranks of criminals, drug addicts, and the homeless. However, politicians began to turn their attention to these “outcasts of society”, because they, like all other citizens, have the right to vote. Suffice it to recall in this connection the pre-election trips of the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party V. Zhirinovsky to Russian prisons and colonies.
Carrying out systematic work among the youth of workers and peasants today, the political parties of Russia pay great attention to students, whose number in 548 higher educational institutions alone is 2.5 million people. In addition, 4.5 million students study in the system of secondary vocational education.
The students are the most responsive part of the intelligentsia and more resolutely, accurately reflect and express the development of the political interests of various social groups throughout society. The student body would not be what it is if its political grouping did not correspond to the political grouping in the whole of society - “corresponded” not in the sense of complete proportionality of student and social groups in terms of their strength and numbers, but in the sense of the necessary and inevitable presence in students of those groups that exist in society.
Russian students are striving today to unite their efforts and direct them to the realization of the interests of young people. The Charter of the Russian Association of Student Organizations of Higher Educational Institutions notes that it (the association) is an amateur, voluntary public association created as a result of the free will of student organizations operating on the basis of common interests and located on the territory of Russia. The Association is a legal entity.
The purpose of creating the Association is to unite efforts and coordinate the activities of youth organizations to implement the social and professional interests of young people, creative potential, socially significant initiatives of students, graduate students, young employees and teachers of educational institutions.
The objectives of the Association are: to assist in the implementation of student programs; providing practical assistance to student groups, including advisory, informational, methodological and financial; involvement of the public in the problems of student youth; representing the interests of organizations that are members of the Association in state bodies and public organizations; implementation of cooperation with existing organizations, youth associations created for professional and social interests; promoting the development and deepening of international cooperation, the development of tourism, leisure and sports.
The problems of youth and politics are a constantly developing phenomenon, which is directly dependent on the state of society and the state, the processes taking place in them. Youth occupies an important place in the social structure of society. It is determined by signs of age characteristics, features of social status, the nature of employment, socio-psychological properties. Romanticism, selflessness, the desire to search for truth, the idealization of objective reality, self-affirmation, the discovery of one's "I" and a number of other features that distinguish young people from the middle and older generations. The youth as a social group is extremely heterogeneous. It is conditionally possible to distinguish its various groups: working youth, peasant, student, student, urban, rural, etc. Each of these groups is characterized by certain specific features, and has its own inherent interests. If you look at world civilization, you can clearly see the differences in the nature of the conduct, the features of young people living on different continents. This gives reason to conclude that, in the most general sense, young people do not represent a single monolithic political and ideological force. However, as the historical experience of the youth movement shows, young people have always strived for an active political life. It is completely different, almost always reacts more actively to changes in the political situation in the country or region than the older generation. Young people are more dynamic, energetic, mobile, ready to take risks, sometimes associated with life.
A special milestone in the youth movement can be considered the Great Conference of Democratic Youth held on November 10, 1945, in which representatives of 63 countries participated. The conference decided to create the World Federation of Democratic Youth, which is called upon to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among young people in all areas of public life, the fight against social, national and racial oppression, for the peace and security of peoples, for the rights of young people. November 10, 1945 is celebrated as World Youth Day in most countries. The history of the youth movement, the creation of state-national and worldwide youth organizations testify to the strength and power of youth. So, for example, the unparalleled scope of performances of student youth in the late 60s of the XX century. revealed a huge increase in its political activity and political radicalism, a growing awareness by students of the relationship between the system of higher and secondary education and the prevailing socio-political relations. The idea of "creative revolutionary violence" as a reaction to the absurdity and immorality of bourgeois society became the dominant feature of the radical thinking of the youth. This gave rise to some scholars to declare the youth a decisive revolutionary force, the vanguard of the working masses. G. Marcuse, T. Rozzak and other scientists saw the origins of youth rebellion in the conflict of generations, in the denial of such life factors as acquisitiveness, the pursuit of benefits and privileges, the hypocrisy of official authorities, the moral suppression of freedom. Modern Russian society is characterized by a variety of forms of youth participation in political life. Understood as the involvement in one form or another of a person or social group in political power relations, in the process of decision-making and management, political participation is an important component of the political life of society. It can serve as a means of achieving a certain goal, satisfying the need for self-expression and self-affirmation, and realizing a sense of citizenship. In the political life of modern Russian society, which is experiencing a systemic crisis, the following forms of political participation of young people are distinguished.
Creation of youth organizations, movement and participation in them. Young people spend a certain part of their political life in the circle of their peers, so their desire to unite in an organization is quite understandable. The heterogeneity of the political consciousness of young Russians, the diversity of political orientations and interests are reflected in the emergence in the last decade of a large number of youth associations of various orientations, including political ones. The experience of various forms of representation of youth interests in state structures is relevant. In the Kaliningrad region, for example, since 1999 a "youth parliament" has been operating, designed to discuss and submit proposals for improving youth policy to the regional administration. There is a youth council in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. In a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation (for example, in the Moscow region), the activities of such forms of attracting young people to participate in the management of state affairs are provided for by regional laws. An analysis of the trends in the development of the youth movement in the regions indicates a variety of conditions for it in various regions of the Russian Federation. There are somewhat greater opportunities in the regions where a policy of state support for youth and children's associations is being pursued. By decision of a number of regional and municipal government bodies, children's and youth associations have been granted separate tax benefits. However, despite state support, these movements do not yet have a noticeable impact on young people in general and their political life. Most youth associations avoid setting political goals and a clear definition of political orientations, although they somehow act as interest groups. In many of them there are only a few dozen people involved in ordinary business under the guise of youth organizations. In general, it makes sense to talk about the political influence of youth associations today because of the indirect significance for the policy of their non-political activities.
One of the most significant innovations introduced into political practice during the reform of the country's political system in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the institution of elections, freed from the exclusively ritual function that it previously had. Most researchers agree that elections in democracies are the institutional framework of the political system. “Positively defined power is the institutionalization of the expectation that, within certain limits, the demands of society will be given serious consideration. This has received the most clear formal reflection, for example, in the electoral system. 1 . Nevertheless, sociological measurements of public opinion record the distrust of Russians in the current electoral system. In their minds, the “presumption of guilt” of the authorities, who always receive favorable results of the popular vote, is fixed in their minds. Thus, according to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) - July 2005 - more than half of Russians (55%) believe that the election results do not reflect the opinion of the people. And only less than a third (31%) hold the opposite position.
The significance of elections for the political socialization of young people is determined by their normative qualities such as alternativeness, freedom and competitiveness. These characteristics of elections, in principle, should contribute to the formation of such qualities of a “political individual” as the ability to make a choice and bear responsibility for it, analyze the alignment of forces and balance of diverse interests, calculate the pros and cons of a particular solution. However, these positive (functional) consequences of the involvement of young people in the activities of electoral institutions are often not realized, and we observe only a number of dysfunctions - disappointment in elections and legal forms of political competition in general, the legitimation of violence in the minds of young people, the formation of the conviction that power is formed by no means not in elections, but in bureaucratic offices or in squares. Most likely, these dysfunctions are a direct consequence of the real electoral practice in Russia and, to a large extent, the institutional foundations of elections.
The study of the electoral behavior and electoral consciousness of young people is of particular importance due to the fact that in any society, young people perform the function of translating values and practices and actually determine the degree of identity of society at different stages of its development.
The electoral behavior of young people is participation in elections and referenda at various levels. Its measurement is made, first of all, according to the criteria of intensity, regularity, awareness, etc.
The electoral consciousness of young people, in turn, can be defined as a set of values, attitudes and norms that determine the electoral behavior of young people.
The nature of youth electoral participation reflects the low reflectivity (reflexivity in general can be defined as the ability for critical self-assessment, as well as for critical reflection on one’s own experience) of the public consciousness of young people and disbelief in the importance of political institutions for real life practices.
The most obvious and indicative indicator of political activity or passivity of the population is participation in elections. In the public consciousness of young people, the normative value of elections is somewhat higher than that of other generations.
According to the study “Youth and Elections Today: Prospects, Expectations (Electoral Activity of Youth in the Belgorod Region)”, conducted in 2006, 75.32% of respondents said that elections are needed in Russia (“yes” and “rather yes than not"). 14.45% of respondents said that elections are not needed 1 . 60.87% of young people are going to participate in the elections. But only 25.16%, when asked about the motives for such participation, said that they wanted to participate in solving social problems in this way. For the rest, participation in elections is, at best, a civic duty (41.98%) or following the requirements of the law (14.29%) 2 . According to the results of a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation on a nationwide sample in December 2005, of the two proposed alternatives: "Elections are needed" and "Elections are not needed", 61% of respondents chose the first and 23% - the second. In 2002, this ratio was - 73% and 14% 1 .
However, the normative value of elections is combined with a lower level of declared and actual electoral participation. According to the FOM, 57% of respondents aged 18-35 took part in the 2004 presidential elections. At the same time, in the sample as a whole, 67% participated in them. Only 42% of the population aged 18-35 participated in the 2003 parliamentary elections. Among young people, the lowest proportion of those who a week before the vote finally established their position (62%) and the highest of those who are not sure whether they will go to the polls or not (26%) 2 .
According to a nationwide survey conducted by the FOM in February 2004, in the age group of 18-35 years old, 48% said that they always come to the polling stations, and 10% said that they never go. For age groups 36-54 and older than 55 years, the corresponding figures were 64 and 8%; 85 and 4% 3 . The demonstrated trend suggests that the declared electoral activity of young people themselves, that is, 18-29-year-olds, is even lower than in the first age group. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that this is most likely the so-called normative electoral activity, which differs significantly from the real one (in the direction of overestimation).
Even lower rates of electoral activity of young people were recorded by a study by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the age category of 18-26 years. 36% of young respondents declared their participation in the elections during it. In the age group of 40-60 years, there were 48% of such people. To the question “Did you have to participate in public and political life in the last year or two? And if so, in what form? almost every second young Russian polled (49%) gave a negative answer. Among the older generation of such respondents turned out to be - 37% 4 .
According to the cross-country project of the Vienna Institute for Social Research, young people in Europe as a whole are characterized by a low level of electoral activity. Electoral participation is highest in Italy and lowest in the UK 5 .
The real electoral participation of young people in the Belgorod region, recorded according to the Electoral Commission of the Belgorod region, has a fairly high level. If at the elections of the Belgorod Regional Duma in October 1997 an extremely low turnout of young voters was recorded - about 30%, then in the subsequent activity of young voters was significantly higher (Table 5) 1 .
Currently, youth is an important socio-political force, both within the state and outside it, which can be explained by the increase in the political activity of young people in the context of democratization and globalization of the world, and the interest of the political elite in interacting with young people to implement and support their activities. Activity can be both positive and negative. But in order for it to be only positive, it is necessary to institutionalize this phenomenon.
Today, the definition of "youth" is much broader. It is not only a social age group of the population (from 15 to 30 years old), but also a group of the population that has an intellectual, progressive and innovative resource. Youth is the social and political force that, in many respects, should determine the future development of society and the state as a whole.
The problem of youth participation in the public and political life of the country occupies one of the central places, both in the West and in the East. More and more research is being observed on the problem of socio-political socialization of this population group, its patriotic and civic education. However, little attention is paid to such an institution as the youth parliament, which is one of the most important institutions of civil society, an effective form of interaction between youth and the state, and an agent of socio-political socialization of youth.
In the context of democratization, interaction and cooperation between youth and the state is necessary. It is important that the younger generation interact with the state in carrying out reforms that can only be successful with the active participation of young citizens themselves. It is important that young people take part in solving the pressing problems that exist in modern society and the world. Recently, a new generation has grown up that looks at the social and political processes taking place in society in a completely different way. Therefore, it is necessary to find channels for interaction between such a large social group as youth and the state.
One of these channels is youth parliamentarism, which can help explain to young people the socio-political realities of modern society, build an active citizenship, support the initiative of young citizens in the process of making political, economic, socially significant decisions and control their implementation. Also, youth parliamentary structures are the channels through which young people can participate in the political processes of the state, in any form of activity in order to build a better society. They give young and active members of this category of the population equal opportunities to participate in the public and political life of the state, regardless of gender, national and religious affiliation, social status, etc. The interaction of youth organizations and associations and the state is an integral part of youth policy.
It should be noted that the degree of state intervention in youth policy in different countries is different. For example, in the Arab countries of the Middle East, youth policy is one of the key socio-political forces and acts as the most important mechanism for the struggle of the religious and political elites because of the current situation in the region. In China, youth policy is entirely in the hands of the ruling party. In Russia, the state, on the one hand, provides political support to the largest youth associations, and on the other hand, does not prevent the formation of new associations that do not contradict the cultural and moral values of society.
The main goal of youth parliaments is to attract young citizens to active participation in the life of society and the state as a whole, the formation of a legal, civil, political and patriotic culture among young people, the development and implementation of an effective youth policy. Youth parliamentary structures play an intermediary role between society and government bodies. Through such organizations, young people will be able to give clear impulses of power, expressing their interests and stating their needs.
It is worth highlighting the main areas of activity of youth parliaments:
1. "Representation of the interests of young people in public authorities." All youth parliaments consolidate and express the interests of this category of the population, increase the opportunity for young citizens to participate in the life of society and the state. Which, of course, contributes to the successful achievement of the social, economic and political goals of the country, increasing civic engagement and the political and legal culture of young people.
2. "Participation in rule-making activities, primarily in the field of state youth policy." The independent participation of young people in the formation of a legislative framework that directly concerns them will help to increase trust between young people and the state, and they will also be able to influence the definition of the main directions of the youth policy of the state.
3. "Training of young personnel." This direction makes it possible to find active young leaders who can prove themselves in the managerial and socio-political spheres, acquiring theoretical and practical skills at the same time.
4. "Conducting socially significant events." Youth parliaments take an active part in the implementation of socially significant actions, events and government programs. Youth organizations, student associations, etc. are also involved in this function, which contributes to the consolidation of youth as a social group and society as a whole.
5. "Educational activity". This direction allows you to give knowledge and improve the political, legal and social culture of young people, contributes to the formation of a clear civic position of young citizens, etc.
For the successful implementation of these areas, constant interaction between young citizens and the state is necessary. The state should give them the opportunity to influence the decisions made. It is necessary to create conditions for the self-realization of young people in modern society. Youth parliaments, in turn, should help the state in the implementation of certain functions assigned to them, showing civic activity. The participation of young people in such organizations will encourage young people to realize their interests and civil rights.
The following factors undertaken by the state will contribute to the development of youth parliamentarism:
1. Development of a legislative framework that will streamline the activities, official status and membership of youth parliaments. First of all, the state needs to create decent conditions for the formation, functioning and development of youth parliaments;
2. Support from the state of such organizations to conduct a more effective youth policy and solve the most important problems within the state and beyond its borders;
3. The state should help in financing programs, in publishing the necessary materials, books, providing premises, providing the necessary equipment, etc.;
4. The state must provide training for young and active people, provide them with the opportunity to apply their accumulated theoretical knowledge in practice, etc. It is necessary to carry out activities to train young people in the basics of managerial and socio-political activities;
5. Through the media, inform the public about the activities of such organizations, thereby helping to attract active young citizens to youth parliaments, increase the effectiveness of youth policy, etc.
All this will undoubtedly contribute to the development of youth parliamentarism, attract young people to participate in the processes of making important government decisions, and improve their civil and patriotic culture. Of course, the initiative to create youth parliaments should come from young citizens, and the state, in turn, should only support and help young people express their interests and express their needs.
Today, it is successfully working, which connects its activities with the need to create conditions for the inclusion of young people in the political, social, economic and cultural life of society. Provides support in the formation of an active citizenship among young citizens living in the CIS.
This is a rather positive project, as it allows ambitious young people to prove themselves, to apply their accumulated theoretical knowledge in practice. Young citizens will be able to express their interests in this project, protect them at the state level by submitting their requests to the parliaments of the CIS countries. Any young citizen can upload their bill for further discussion by members of parliament. In the course of joint work, young people will be able to independently determine their present and future, which depends on themselves. The youth themselves must decide the ways of developing youth policy. This organization acts as a mechanism for improving the civic culture of youth. Thus, the Eurasian Youth Parliament is one of the most important channels of political communication between youth and the state.
According to the author, this organization is a new effective subject of socio-political socialization of young people, which contributes to the political adaptation of young people. Helps young people to take part in the life of civil society and in the life of the state. Today, it should be noted that the initiative to create youth parliaments finds support both among young people and in public authorities.
The Youth Parliament of the Middle East has been established in Turkey to discuss the problems of the Middle East region, to create a trusting and tolerant atmosphere among young citizens of the Arab world. A Youth Parliament has been created in Georgia with the aim of "revealing talented young people as future parliamentarians, deputies, ministers." The youth parliaments of Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, etc. are actively functioning. Youth parliaments are present in many countries of the Eurasian continent.
From this we can conclude that in the modern world, youth parliamentarism has already begun a fairly successful development, is gradually receiving support from society and the state, and has prospects for development.
According to the author, youth parliamentary structures should be created under the legislative branch of power. To ensure that no public organizations could use these structures solely in their own interests. And also young citizens will be able to participate directly in the development of legislative and regulatory legal acts relating to the sphere of youth policy of the state, to cooperate with the relevant people and public authorities. They will be able to independently make political decisions and bear responsibility for them.
The author believes that it is necessary to hold elections to the youth parliament according to the mechanism of elections to representative bodies of power. The youth themselves should choose young parliamentarians who will be responsible for youth policy in front of society. And in order to prepare active young citizens for political activity, it is necessary to create youth political schools in higher educational institutions, with the help of which you can teach them political and parliamentary culture, involve them in political life, instill in young citizens independence in solving problems, etc.
Thus, summing up all of the above, it must be said that youth parliamentarism is necessary in modern society. Through it, young citizens will be able to express their civic position, independently solve the problems of the present that concern them and build the future. They will be able to develop, adopt and implement decisions in the field of the youth policy of the state. Youth parliamentarianism contributes to the rallying of young people, which, in turn, plays a positive role in reducing tensions and conflicts in society. The political participation of youth through youth parliaments forms a civic culture among young people, which contributes to the development of the state as a whole.
