Three Models to Consider when Integrating Youth Participation into Programs
These three models are useful in that they present youth participation along a continuum. The models are:
● Roger Hart's Ladder of Participation, which presents eight levels of youth participation that start from manipulation and tokenism at the lower rungs, to full participation at the top.
● Pathways to Participation, which focuses on what do adults have to do so that youth can have space and opportunity to participate.
● The Combined Model, which focuses on the degree of power-sharing between adults and youth.
Consult these models when you are trying to decide how and to what extent to incorporate youth participation into your project. The subsector modules provide DRG Program Snapshots exemplifying how youth participation can be woven into strategy, design, implementation, and evaluation of DRG projects.
Roger Hart's Ladder of Participation presents eight levels of youth participation that start from manipulation and tokenism at the lower rungs, to full participation at the top. It is important to note that the ladder metaphor of the model should not be assumed to mean that higher levels of participation are always better in all contexts and for all interventions. Instead, as the research correctly points out, there are real-life situations where different circumstances could call for different levels of participation. In certain contexts, a lower level of participation may be necessary for preparing both youth and adults before moving further up the ladder. The real strength of the model is that it constructs participation as a process of negotiation rather than a deliverable product, where numerous psychosocial and contextual factors play a key role. Rather participation happens along a continuum of possible manifestations that can and will change over time.
A second model, proposed by Harry Shier and based on Hart’s ladder of participation, is called the pathways to participation. The main take-away in the “Pathways to Participation” model is the focus on the behavior of adults. That is, what do adults have to do so that youth can have space and opportunity to participate? Essentially, those with power and authority need to exhibit listening skills and respond in ways that create openings for youth participation in decision-making. Another useful element focuses on how these levels of participation manifest themselves in an organization. This includes creating openings for greater participation by youth as well as ensuring that there are activities, processes and/or procedures to support youth participation within the organization. The model also highlights the possible need to adjust an organizational policy in order to institutionalize or “obligate” the organization to a youth participation practice. Each successive step supports a progression through the diagram to a higher degree of youth participation in an organization.
The third model - The Combined Model - draws on and extends the two other models is proposed by Melvin Delgado and Lee Staples. This model of participation pulls from the literature of youth organizations and youth-led community organizing and focuses on the degree of power-sharing between adults and youth.
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Explore the toolkit:
What is Positive Youth Development?
What is Inclusive Development?
Models for Integrating Youth
Cross-cutting Considerations
- Civic Participation
- Youth Organizations
- Youth Leadership
- Example Program Types and Theories of Change
Entry Points for Youth Integration into the Program Cycle
Country/Regional Strategic Planning
Project Design and Implementation
Activity Design and Implementation
Monitoring and Evaluation
Guide to Youth in Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Programs
1. Civil Society
2. Human Rights Protection and Promotion
3. Rule of Law and the Justice Sector
4. Legislative Strengthening
5. Local Governance and Devolution
6. Political Party Development
7. Electoral Processes
8. Anti-Corruption and Accountability
9. Reconciliation, Peacebuilding, and Transitional Justice
10. Media, Information, and Communication Technologies (ICTs)