Young citizen participation in the state of Mexico. An approach from the perspective of the mobilization and resource dependency

Abstract

The issue of the downward trend in civic engagement has been part of the public and governmental agendas of several Latin-American countries, including Mexico. Scholars and
commentators have expressed profound concern not only regarding the overall low levels of citizen participation and political activism, but, especially among young people. Particularly worrying is the trend of increasing passiveness and reluctance among youth to participate in politics and exercise their right to vote. However, such manifestations of political disaffection are, perhaps, expressive forms of the capacity to condition and, possibly, to mobilize one of the main resources that young people have, their participation. In this vein, the lack of trust in traditional political institutions seems to be one of the main factors restraining young people engagement in the political and democratic process.