Rejuvenating Democracy through Participatory Governance: From Cycles of Insecurity to Sustainable Public Policy

There is widespread concern about the disillusionment of younger generations with electoral politics. This reflects a failure in both democratic politics and democratic governance. In the face of long-term trends e.g., ageing populations, and successive waves of crisis – from the 2008 financial crash, through the Covid-19 pandemic, to the gathering crisis of climate change – public policy in established democracies is increasingly failing to scaffold youth transitions into adulthood. This has the effect of embedding existing social inequalities and undermining social mobility, which leads to further distancing from formal politics. This paper examines the potential for participatory governance amongst young Londoners from disadvantaged backgrounds to disrupt these cycles of insecurity and create virtuous circles of participation and good governance. We begin by examining these cycles of insecurity in more depth – applying Iris Marion Young’s theorization of ‘interactional injustices’ (direct injustices, with an identifiable agent causing harm) and ‘structural injustices’ (more systemic injustices, layered and enduring). Building upon Public Value approaches to public policy, we analyse these young Londoners' views on how they might recapture a sense of agency over the challenges they face in their everyday lives. We also analyse the potential of ‘civic mentoring’ provided by civic and local authorities (in our case study, the Mayor of London’s Peer Outreach Team) to both scaffold youth transitions into adulthood and increase the quality of public policy.