Youth NGO’s contribution to democratic political culture in Hungary

My paper approaches the role of associations from a specific aspect: it aims to discover the role of youth NGO’s in frame of the democratic socialisation process of young Hungarians. Since associations depend on the political, social and cultural context in which they are embedded, it is worth examining what kind of effects Hungary’s changing social context had on associations. The question which I would like to deal with in my paper is how youth NGO’s adapt to the context of the Hungarian youth policy and how EU youth policy has influenced their activity in the field of promoting participation. I am especially interested in the networks that they have joined during the last decade and the changement in the context of their social embeddedness at local level (size of the membership, raising funds, activity). According to my assumption compared to other NGO’s, youth NGO’s are more opened toward international networking and therefore they are able to adapt new ideas from other associations on international field. In my PhD dissertation research at the Corvinus University of Budapest I try to explore the „frame” that Hungarian youth policy offers for youth NGO’s and for other actors inspiring youth participation. The data comes from a research addressing the efficiency of local governments in the field of involving co-operation between local authorities and civil society, conducted by the Centre for Elite Research at Corvinus University of Budapest. Research started in September 2010 and first round finishes in July 2011.