Abstract

BERMUDEZ, M. Natalia; SAVINO, Lucas D.  and  ZENKLUSSEN, Lorena A.. Representations on democracy and participation in youth groups from the city of Córdoba. Cuad. Fac. Humanid. Cienc. Soc., Univ. Nac. Jujuy [online]. 2004, n.22, pp.129-150. ISSN 1668-8104.

Theoretical positions on democracy are not homogeneous. "Empirical" criteria centered on electoral processes, coexist with "substantial" ones, mainly focused on the values underlying the participative practices of political actors, which in turn, are shaped by the latter. It remains particularly important to newly established democracies like ours, to concentrate on the topics mentioned in the second place. Coherently with such perspective, we intend to know the representations on "democracy" and "political participation" in youth groups from the city of Cordoba, as well as the link those actors establish between those concepts. In order to achieve such objective, qualitative techniques were used. According to the analysis of in depth interviews taking into account the conditioners of discursive production pointed out by Foucault and Bourdieu, we obtained the following interpretations: - theoretical association between "democracy" (positively valued by the adolescents interviewed) and the ideas of "liberty" and "equality", although conditioned in practice by corruption and clientelism - "political participation" was understood as a learning and co-operative experience, based on personal responsibility and engagement, and strongly linked to electoral processes and "control" (however, participation in the political realm has a weaker sense in practice due to the lack of interest in exercising it effectively) - "participation" is considered as one of the main elements of democracy, although effectively weak because of the negative perceptions that actors have toward politics In conclusion, the positions observed in youth groups are different from the motives that orientate their political behavior. However, the conjunction of democracy and participation in the representations of the young people studied remains a relevant point to consider.

Keywords : Youth groups; Democracy; Political participation; Delegative patterns; Low intensity citizenship; Representations; Democratic culture; Socialization; Suffrage; Apathy.

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