Youth participation in political activities: The art of participation in Bhakkar, Punjab Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Youth studies became a global topic in academia and grasped the attention of various stakeholders at different levels. The present study examined the role of youth in political activities in their communities. The study conducted in the Province of Punjab and its District Bhakkar, Pakistan. The data collected in 2018 to address youth and political participation in political activities (particularly in the context of their voting behavior in General Election, 2018). The study opted quantitative method to approach the maximum respondents and giving equal opportunity to investigate the phenomena. The data was collected through a simple random sampling technique, and a questionnaire was prepared to get the data from residents (youth) of district Bhakkar. The correlation analysis was done to analyze the relationship between, social activities, friend’s opinion on political matters, political participation and political learning. The study conclude that youth have participated in many activities; their interests and knowledge of politics are increasing. The new generation is more interested in participating in political matters and more likely to take a part in political discussions. The study also found that the role of peer groups is influential in sensitizing the public on social issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• political participation
• peers opinion
• survey 2018
• young generation
• Pakistan

Acknowledgments

First of all, I am thankful to my supervisor Professor Rachmah Ida, and co-supervisor Professor Mustain for their tremendous support during my whole doctoral studies in Indonesia. I also want to thanks to Dr. Asia Ashfaq, Dr Asim Muneeb, Dr Zaheer Abbas, Dr Mujahid Sargana, Dr Ansar Abbas, Dr Siti Masudah, ProfessorMuhammad Babar Akram, Dr Qaisar Khalid and Professor SaifUr Rehman Saif Abbasi to helped me to improve my corrections, and insight suggestions in this paper. In addition it is important to add that, this paper is only a short part of my doctoral dissertation on the topic of ‘Democratic Practices and Youth Political Participation in Pakistan’. In last, I want to acknowledge Professor Michael Sherr for his support and prompt response to my work. Indeed this work is because of the author political inspirations from H.E Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Notes

1. https://pildat.org/blog/a-large-youth-vote-bank-in-pakistan-what-it-means-for-political-parties.

2. Bhakkar Information [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakkar]

3. Darya Khan [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darya_Khan]

4. Kallurkot Information [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallurkot]

5. Mankera Information [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankera]

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharna

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Azadi_March