Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

In recent years, the study of political participation has moved toward the study of social networks. Generally, most explanations for political participation have focused on youth and their role in politics. This quantitative research was conducted on youth and factors that are contributing to politics in Pakistan. This study measures the association between social networks and youth political participation and suggests policy measures for enhancing youth political participation in Pakistan. The number of respondents of this study is 308 aged eighteen to twenty-nine from the Province of Punjab, Pakistan. A questionnaire comprised of fifty-six questions was designed to collect data. Overall results of the study show that respondents were engaged in civic activities and had strong ties among their associations. It was also found that social networks promote political participation among youth. It is suggested that for youth motivation and steering toward political participation, there is a need to promote capacity building training for youth, both males and females. Necessary actions should be taken to involve youth in civic engagement activities. One who moves beyond using rough measures of social networks such as memberships or association, seem politically active. More generally, the results highlight that the potential pitfalls of over-individualized models of political participation are dependent on social networks.