Study reveals youths' desire to be more involved in country's political life

Lana Cristina

Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Brazil's urban youths would like to participate more in the country's civic and political life, in social actions. They also demand better quality schools, intend to prepare themselves better professionally, and want to have more access to cultural and recreational spaces. These were some of the findings of a study carried out between October, 2004, and May, 2005, involving 8 thousand youths between the ages of 15 and 24 in seven Brazilian metropolitan areas, including the Federal District (DF).

The survey was coordinated by the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses (Ibase) and the Polis Institute. The findings for the Federal District, where the research was handled by the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc), were announced on Saturday (3), in Brasília, at the seminar, "Brazilian Youth and Democracy: Participation, Government Sphere and Policies."

When asked whether there is a need for more channels of dialogue between citizens and the government, 83% of them replied in the affirmative, which demonstrates the youths' eagerness to participate more actively in the country's civic and even political arenas. The DF youths stressed the importance of political participation as the most concrete way to fulfill their goals.

From their point of view, however, there are factors that constitute obstacles to this participation, such as the disbelief with which they regard politicians in general and their skepticism about the results of political action. Furthermore, the youth said that the need to work and earn money frequently takes the place of political involvement.

Translation: David Silberstein