(Twelve minute read)

Politics has long pervaded every facet of human life, dictating interactions and experiences on local, national and international levels. However one does not have to be a political analyst to see that young people are disengaging from more traditional and institutional forms of participation or to know that how to govern effectively with beneficial policies that uphold and promote democracy are becoming more challenging than ever, especially with increasing and unprecedented technological advances.

We know that trust in politics is declining across large parts of the democratic world because the lines between fact and fantasy are blurred by Social Media.  

Many people have lost faith that politicians can change their lives for the better.

For me, what’s important here is that people are recognising and acquiring ownership of their power and are becoming important political players – reclaiming democratic processes of contestation, political conflict resolution.

I cannot stress this point enough:

We need to decolonise the democracy project.

Engagement of local people and their capacities are critical, as opposed to more Euro-centric approaches which assume western superiority in building and sustaining democracy.

With democracy disappearing into the black box of technology and algorithm analysis what we’re witnessing now is actually a very revolutionary moment, that will lead to no universal health care, no universal pension system, no universal educational system.

Basically, everyone is on their own.

What’s the point of the state when it cannot even provide basic necessities, could not organise a basic emergency response to the Covid pandemic until thousands died, cannot implement long term solutions to providing green energy to revert Climate change, because of short term aspirations in political power.

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This has been a year of uncertainty.

The events of this year and the cumulative effect of recent years as a whole are not only “consolidating” the tendency for protests and social movements to become politicised, they have problematised it.

It seems now that what is considered progressive can only be expressed in a very reactionary way.

What can be done?

Democratic protest politics is being born before our very eyes, but what will it actually look like once consolidated?  What will the fight really be about?  Who will become its collective subject?

This is the question that has a global dimension.

We see that the conservative political agenda – the conservative populist appeal to ethnicity, tradition, preservation against western or foreign influence – is gaining momentum.

The images of huge demonstrations in France are just the tip of the iceberg.

Behind it lies a huge experience of self-organisation.

On the one hand, protest has started becoming part of representative politics. On the other, protest movements have found themselves in the centre of “programmatic” discussions about how to change  society.

Will it be Twitter or Threads, or TikTok or a combination of Spotify, MeWe  and the rest that will drive the future of political representation?  How then can we ensure platforms designers are equipped with sufficient knowledge to make the best decisions?

Current measures against disinformation and hate speech are “insufficient to counter the assault on our democracy. The need for clear rules for internet giants, whose “policies have an impact on the real world” and who seem to be the ones deciding which messages are acceptable or not.

Raised the problems created by large companies dealing with personal data and asking them to solve them by arbitrarily censoring harmful content themselves is not an option for democracy.

We need to bring order to the digital expression of democracy and to end the digital Wild West.

There is no online or offline world, only one world, in which we must protect our citizens’ rights and our democracies in equal measure both online and offline.

Platforms will have to run every notification through their algorithm and the consequence will be overly politically correct censorship.

On the internet, the freedom of one group of people shouldn’t stop where the big platform bosses decide. It is up to the democratic institutions, our laws, our courts to set the rules of the game, to define what is illegal and what is not, what must be removed and what should not be.

The kind of new social media platform that I believe could dominate the industry in the future will be premised on a decentralized model; it will use blockchain and open-source technology with the intent to make the platform more democratic and grant its users full ownership of their accounts and profits.

They the young prefer alternative forms of political engagements such as protesting, demonstrating, being part of organisations, signing petitions, volunteering, and engaging online through digital tools.

People have become increasingly concerned about the security of their mobile devices.

Elections lie at the heart of representative democracies underpinned by the core idea that citizens elect citizens to represent their values and interests. There claimed is that “we need to get back to some form of legitimacy.

Through digital tools that help governments to be more transparent or that help citizens to take part in public policy decisions.

That’s the most irrelevant thing you could hear during a revolutionary moment.

What kind of legitimacy? Revolutions are made to subvert the existing legitimacy.

So what if anything would drive participation Politics?

With the citizen at its core, Political Participation can be defined as any lawful activity undertaken by citizens that aims to influence, change or affect the government, public policies, or how institutions are run.

The will of young people and the necessity to involve them in decision making, not only in youth-related issues, but in all societal decisions is paramount to democracy survival.

Re-establishing local self-government, building a new system of communication and local leadership from the ground up will require Citizens participation assemblies that are offering ownership and responsibility of provision/supply with participatory budget of financing decided by communities.

We must learn to trust in citizens’ capacity.  Because citizens and governments are not only part of the problem but part of the solution.

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Considering the current state of democracy, these are just some of the big questions.

WHY?

Because participation is an inseparable element of democracy. Every society is based on shared values and collective ideals acquired throughout the socialisation process.

Because the rules of the electoral game influence the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between citizens and parties. Artificial intelligence is repacking it in Algorithms.

Because Social media is exposing its weaknesses. Creating a more fragile relationship with democratic values, greater distance from the political process and new forms of participation in organised groups. Young people’s attraction to the populist movements found in many countries reflects this apparent fragility. , Ties with democracy have come increasingly under pressure among the least educated young people.

Because decisions taken by the majority are becoming less reflective of young people’s views and expectations. such as the demands of Climate change.

Because Populism and technocracy see themselves as anti politics and, more specifically, antiparty’.

Because the representative democratic system (for example political parties) as a way of colonising the system by exposing and exploiting its institutional biases.

Because populists are usually not able to deal with complex issues or to point out alternatives for the public good.

Because the gap that develops between what the public expect from party representation, and what it delivers is winding.

Because the existence of representative institutions at the national level is not sufficient for democracy  … for a democratic polity to exist it is necessary for a participatory society to exist, i.e. a society where all political systems have been democratized.

Because the corruption of political and economic elites is essentially irredeemable.

Because the narrative of “us against them” to safeguard individual privileges.

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The search for peace remains high on the global political agenda.

We all aspire to contribute to governmental accountability to population, to building peaceful inclusive societies with accountable political actors. We have the chance to use the dissatisfaction, frustration, and indignation in society to create new relationships and new social pacts. From protesting to voting, young people are showing up for our planet, our future and our political systems.

But they still face many barriers to representation.

The importance of offline political participation experiences in increasing both online and offline participation with the intergenerational dialogue about the future is Climate Change.

Participatory and technocratic anti-politics promote reflexivity, while elitist and populist anti-politics reject it.

The roles of young people go beyond being taught, that acknowledges the contributions of young people to political participation and to how it can be understood.

Participation (in student councils, groups or clubs) and political interest have an effect on civic participation, and students recognize the formative value of debates and confrontation of opinions as well of participating in school councils and assemblies in fostering interest in social issues.

It’s time for change to ensure that the vacuum is not filled by those who seek personal gain and that this indignation does not result in social isolation and cynicism or even violence.

You cannot put the genie of AI back into the bottle.

But we can with Caught in the Act data collection methods (developed to capture hard-to-reach group, such as people attending demonstrations) ask or at least encourage motivations for them to join participation.

Not been asked by anyone to participate/ get evolved, will eventually drive the young of the world into the slavery of digitalized citizens.