2008 Youth Policy Union Project

“2008 Youth Policy Union Project” Implemented by National Youth Commission, Executive Yuan

A. Background of the Project
In recent years, National Youth Commission (NYC) has positively carried out youth participation in deliberative democracy. Since 2004, we have organized Youth National Affairs Conference by adopting deliberative democracy as a model every year. Young people will be selected to join conferences by a regular process -- their initial applications and then our drawing lots in public. We construct dialogues among youths and a top platform for youths to propose their opinions in policies. To further expand youth participation to allow them to have more opportunities of offering their opinions and suggestions, we coordinate with achievement and experience from Youth National Affairs Conference and deliberative democracy as well as following the President's and the Premier's belief in expanding youths' public issue engagement and their direction of development of policy implementation. Thus we schedule Youth Policy Union Project, integrating relevant promotion measurement and establishing a network platform of “Youth Policy Union .” ”

B. Content of the Project

• To schedule a leadership policy learning camp for youths and invite leading figurers of autonomous organizations in colleges and universities to proceed with seminars. In exchanging ideas and learning from other people's experience, we listen to opinions and suggestions that youth offer in public policies. Also, we like to bring a fashion of youths' public issue engagement into academic campuses.
• To manage youth policy forums – from different regions' meetings to nationwide conferences – to expand youth participation. We inject a spirit of deliberative democracy into procedures of meetings or conferences. Through realistic discussions and rational dialogue, young people can offer their opinions and suggestions by aiming at important and much talked-of public policies. It is expected for them to expand opportunities and channels for making participation in policies.
• To organize youth teamwork policies research and development competitions. The Government's relevant important policies are regarded as a scope of competitions. We invite young people to organize their teams to discuss policy strategies and schedule action projects to attend competitions. It is hoped to deepen their understanding of research and development teams and improve their quality of suggestions.
• To proceed with a learning activity, such as being a “head of governmental department for one day,” for young people, we should properly increase numbers of youths' participation in the activity and offer more opportunities for them. We gradually improve the situation – letting youth follow their internship leading figures, heads of the central government, those of the local government or members of the Legislative Yuan. Such an internship can improve quality of youths' public issue engagement.
• To enrich the network platform of Youth Policy Union, we should carry out online forums about important policy issues, and coordinate with concrete conferences. These can fully provide space and opportunities for youth dialogues concerning participation in public policies.
• To empower young people to become leading figurers for deliberative democracy, organize educational courses for younger generations, combine relevant resources, promote academic campuses and communities to understand deliberative democracy through seminars, citizens' practical conversations and conferences about deliberative democracy, and meetings for sharing ideas. The idea of deliberative democracy should be applied to designs and schedules of relevant events of the Youth Policy Union. It is hoped to bring the spirit of deliberative democracy into full play.