Evaluating the efficacy of online channels in fostering youth participation in public decision-making – the lens of Singapore

• Main Author: Tay, Kai Jun
• Other Authors: Kim Soojin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Youth civic participation; Inclusiveness and attractiveness of online channels
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/175719
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Over the years, online channels (OCs) have gained traction as an alternative means of engagement in public decision-making, especially among a new generation of technology-savvy youths. However, in Singapore, the roles and efficacy of OCs as a facilitator of youth civic participation (YCP) remain under-examined: most current literature fails to adequately scope out or define YCP, places too much focus on the outcomes of participation rather than the holistic process of doing so, and lacks the grounding of a sufficiently comprehensive theoretical framework. Based on these shortcomings, the present study aims to analyze the effectiveness of OCs in facilitating YCP in Singapore, by situating the state of youth participation (as enabled by OCs) on Wong, Zimmerman and Parker’s (2010) TYPE pyramid. It aims to not only provide a holistic assessment of OCs as a facilitator, by analysing three factors related to the quality of YCP, but also to provide recommendations for how OCs can be further developed as participatory spaces, such that they can be best leveraged for youth participation.