by georg.kiraly -

Inclusion leads to participation

The inclusion of youth in the democratic system not only encourages their active participation but also enhances the overall democratic governance. It strengthens the legitimacy and effectiveness of decision-making processes, promotes social cohesion, and cultivates a new generation of informed and engaged citizens who are committed to shaping a better future. To undermine this assumption I’d like to refer to some communal examples.

  1. Der Kindergemeinderat Steiermark
    The Children’s Municipal Council in Styria enables children to actively participate in local decision-making. They express their opinions, concerns, and ideas, shaping their community. Council members, aged around 10 to 14, are democratically elected and discuss topics relevant to children. Their tasks include initiatives like designing playgrounds and organizing events. The initiative promotes political education, empowering children as future citizens. The establishment of these councils varies across municipalities in Styria, all aiming to enhance children’s participation in decision-making processes.
  2. Bürgerforum Vorarlberg
    The Citizen Forum in Vorarlberg is an initiative that enables citizens to actively participate in political decision-making and express their concerns. Selected citizens engage in multi-day events to discuss specific topics, meet experts, and develop proposals. These proposals are submitted to the government, influencing policy decisions. The forum aims to enhance citizen engagement, democratic legitimacy, and transparency in political processes. The government takes the forum’s results seriously, fostering dialogue and trust between citizens and the government. The Citizen Forum exemplifies participatory democracy, empowering citizens to have a say and promoting inclusivity in decision-making.
  3. Die partizipative Kinder- und Jugendmillion der Stadt Wien
    The participatory Children and Youth Million of the City of Vienna is a project aimed at empowering children and young people in Vienna to play an active role in shaping their city. The project provides one million euros that can be used by young people between the ages of 6 and 18 for projects and ideas that aim to improve life in their city.
    What makes the Children and Youth Million special is that the decision on how to allocate the funds is made by the young participants themselves. Children and young people can submit their project proposals and then vote on the distribution of the funds. This process involves them in the democratic decision-making process and enables them to realize their own visions of a livable city. The projects implemented within the framework of the Children and Youth Million are diverse and range from the design of playgrounds and parks to cultural and recreational offerings, as well as environmental and sustainability initiatives. The project fosters the creativity, engagement, and sense of responsibility of young people, allowing them to actively contribute to their environment.

If we now compare the reach of regional or municipal initiatives with the reach of digital platforms such as walhkabine.at, we can see a clear difference. The user figures. Its very difficult to find exact numbers but its an obvious conclusion if we compare the amount of people that are using or have used wahlkabine.at and the report of SORA from the last blog entry.

The use of wahlkabine.at among young voters is considerable. In past elections, wahlkabine.at has been used by a significant number of young voters. For example, in the 2019 National Council elections in Austria, over 300,000 people used the platform to match their political preferences with the parties’ positions. A high number of these users were young people aged 16 to 29.

Although children’s and youth parliaments or initiatives in Vienna, Graz and Linz can also look back on a considerable reach, the digital affinity of the target group plays a major role. In any case, the demand for digital information on political information, whether via social media or specific websites such as wahlkabine.at, grows with every election.

Screenshot of the latest update to the communal election of vienna in 2020 on wahlkabine.at

by georg.kiraly -

Tools to raise the interest of participation

At the moment, there are various programs that try to make politics and democracy understandable. This works on the national level as well as on the municipal level. Here are four digital and analogue examples:

  1. Wahlkabine.at
    Since 2009 potential voters are able to use this website to gain more knowledge about potential matches with election programs of all common parties. The aim of Wahlkabine.at is to provide voters with an opportunity to compare their political positions with the positions of the various parties. The platform asks a series of questions on various political topics, and users can state their own positions on these questions. The answers of the different political parties to the same questions are then published on the platform. Voters can then compare their own answers with the parties’ positions and get an overview of which party they have the greatest agreement with in terms of content. Wahlkabine.at also enables users to obtain more information about the individual parties and their election programs.
  2. Several Boardgames
    “Democracy: Majority Rules” is a cooperative board game in which players take on the role of members of parliament and must make decisions together to find the best solution for a fictional community. In the process, they learn about different aspects of democracy, such as the importance of debate, compromise, voting, and representation of the population. Another example is the game “The Political Game – Governing and Making Laws.” It allows players to take on the role of political decision-makers and develop an understanding of the political process by making decisions and drafting laws. The game is designed to show how democracy works and how political decisions are made.
  3. “Der Kanzlersimulator”
    The Chancellor Simulator from SWR is an interactive online tool developed by the Südwestrundfunk (SWR), a public broadcasting company in Germany. The goal of the simulator is to give users the opportunity to slip into the role of a German chancellor and make political decisions. The Chancellor Simulator is based on real-life political scenarios and challenges that a government might face. Users can select different policy areas such as the economy, education, the environment or foreign policy and make decisions by, for example, passing laws or taking political action. What is special about the Chancellor’s Simulator is that it simulates the consequences of the decisions made. The effects of policy are presented to the players in the form of feedback and evaluations. This gives them an impression of how their decisions might affect different areas of society.
  4. “Wer regiert Österreich? Du wenn du es willst”
    The Migration Council’s report, published in December 2016, emphasizes the importance of public support for a successful nationwide migration policy. In response, the migration communication initiative, GEMEINSAM. VIEL BEWEGEN, was launched. It offers interactive programs for different school levels to explore the connections between migration, society, and politics. For upper secondary students, there’s the political simulation game GEMEINSAM. AUSTRIA GOVERNING. It allows players to experience democracy, responsibility, and the impact of migration on society. Interested teachers can book the simulation, GEMEINSAM.ÖSTERREICH REGIEREN, free of charge via ICMPD.
by georg.kiraly -

Let’s focus on democracy

In the last semester, I dealt with the basic question of what possibilities there are, or what possibilities have been used so far, to bring children and young people closer to politics or democracy. In the following, the findings of the last semester will be dealt with a little deeper and more precisely.

In general, the approach this time is not to focus too much on politics or on the politics of the past, but to look at what means can be used to make democracy more interesting in general. What are the parameters that motivate children and young people to have a say and to feel heard. I will have a look at the tools that are already available for this purpose, and use them to determine or discuss where there is a need for action or where I can intervene as an interaction designer.

In Austria, as you know, there are various ways for young people to get involved politically and to express their opinions. For example, there are youth parliaments at the national, regional and local levels where young people can voice their concerns and ideas. These youth parliaments serve as platforms for exchange and discussion on political issues, and their recommendations can influence political decisions. Another important element of youth political participation in Austria is youth organizations of political parties. These organizations offer young people the opportunity to become actively involved in politics, for example by organizing events, running campaigns and engaging in political discussions.

In short, young people can vote, participate in youth parliaments and get involved in youth organizations of political parties. These forms of participation enable them to express their opinions and influence political decisions. So much for the initial situation regarding youth participation. But how can interest in this co-determination be increased?

I would like to move further in this direction.