How can public funding schemes bridge the gap between high-level policy agendas and grassroots practice to mobilize marginalized youth? Wielath et al. (2025) investigate the role of funding programs as meso-level infrastructures that mediate between macro-level political strategies and micro-level local implementation, assessing how these mechanisms can be designed to empower young people who are rarely engaged in political processes.
Drawing on desk research and two expert focus groups conducted at both national and European levels, the study examines youth-focused funding architectures across four analytical dimensions: conceptual frameworks, cross-sectoral positioning, the inherent logic of administrative structures, and responsiveness to the lived realities of youth and community practitioners. The authors demonstrate that funding programs cannot be evaluated at the program level in isolation. Instead, they act as critical levers and mediators connecting systemic political goals with the everyday practices of youth workers and marginalized participants.
The analysis reveals that successfully engaging underrepresented youth requires moving past deficit-oriented narratives that treat marginalized groups as passive recipients. Programmatic success relies on embedding robust bottom-up feedback loops, easing administrative rigidity to accommodate non-traditional civic actors, and investing in durable local infrastructures rather than short-term project cycles. The authors conclude that youth participation policies must transition toward long-term, context-sensitive, and coordinated funding frameworks that directly align structural resources with the practical needs of young citizens on the ground.
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Wielath, S., Pelzer, M., Hofmann-van De Poll, F., & Rottach, A. (2025). Political Participation of Marginalized Young People: Examining Funding Programs from a European and National Perspective. Youth, 5(4), 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth5040108