Salman, A., Samsudin, A. R. and Yusuf, F.
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 25, Issue S, June 2017
Keywords: Civic participation, Malaysia, marginalised community, political participation, young generation
Published on: 07 Jun 2017
Embedded in democratic constitutions are the rights and freedoms that accompany citizenship, and these rights and freedoms include participation. The central concept of social participation is that citizens can transform themselves from passive bystanders into actively involved citizens working towards what they perceive to be the public good. It is crucial for young generations to participate in socio-political activities, as the development of any society in large part has to do with this demography. This paper examines the offline civic and political participation of 15 to 25-year-olds in Malaysia. The paper is based on a nation-wide survey of 5,042 youth members in Malaysia both from marginalised and mainstream communities. The findings show that this demographic is more active in civic participation as compared to political participation. The top three forms of participation were found to be forms of civic participation, with the least amount of participation found in the political sphere. While mainstream youth appear to have a higher amount of participation compared to those from marginalised communities, their participation is still average overall. Additional resources are thus needed for the economic, cultural and social development of the youth in Malaysia to support future trends in participation. A level playing field is required for young people both from marginalised and mainstream communities to improve their social participation.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542