Youth parliament members recently unveiled plans to enhance their unified operational system, aiming for transparency and efficiency. With 55,000 young participants, the initiative seeks ...

The main insights regarding the improvement of a unified system for the activities of youth parliaments were presented by members of the youth parliament under the State Duma at the final meeting on November 29. There, the initiatives of the youth were also assessed by deputies from the "adult" Duma. According to the chairman of the State Duma’s committee on youth policy, Artem Metelov (United Russia), deputies are currently working more actively than ever with their young colleagues. "We have established cooperation, and there are concrete results," noted the United Russia member in a parliamentary manner.

Such cooperation now needs to be established at the local level, the young parliamentarians added. The "unified standard for the activities of youth parliaments in the regions of the Russian Federation" should assist in this regard, explained Artem Nikolaev, chairman of the youth parliament under the State Duma (United Russia).

He stated that such a document would allow for "aligning the work in a unified direction" and also "make it transparent and more effective." According to the politician, the standard developed in March 2023 has already been officially adopted by 54 regional youth parliaments.

As conceived, the performance indicators for local structures align with the KPIs for the youth parliament under the State Duma. Among these, according to Artem Nikolaev, are support for legislative activities, assistance in the work of Duma committees, public and political engagement, and collaboration with local areas and youth.

Currently, the youth parliamentary system includes 55,000 young individuals, reported youth parliament member Daria Shestakova. However, in addition to this, the political ambitions of young people are supported by youth governments, councils, and party structures. In Ms. Shestakova's opinion, "to establish transparent and effective rules for the work and self-realization of politically active youth," the issue of centralizing operations should be discussed at the platform of the youth parliament under the State Duma together with the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), deputies, senators, and leaders of youth organizations from political parties.

It is worth noting that the authorities are also bringing the entire national youth policy to a common denominator. This fall, the Duma officially assigned the development of common KPIs and oversight of their implementation in relevant local structures to Rosmolodezh.

According to political scientist Alexander Nemtsov, the primary function of the youth parliament should be explanatory: "Representatives of youth parliaments should effectively translate legislative initiatives from the authorities for the youth." However, they do not always operate in this manner. Often, members of youth parliaments instead take on the role of sectoral experts. Mr. Nemtsov believes that if the new standard encourages the explanatory function, it could be effective. "For example, there could be KPIs for conducting explanatory seminars and other events," suggests the political scientist.

On the other hand, the president of the "St. Petersburg Politics" foundation, Mikhail Vinogradov, believes that the work of youth parliaments as an institution of parliamentarism cannot yield significant effects in conditions where this genre itself is in crisis. However, according to the political scientist, youth parliaments can fulfill other "pragmatic" functions for the authorities. Firstly, their activity counters the notion that support for the authorities among the youth is lower than in other age groups. Secondly, youth parliaments effectively create a network of young individuals oriented towards careers and the state. For the latter, being part of this body provides a certain status and even the opportunity to enter the authorities' personnel reserve, concludes Mr. Vinogradov.

Grigory Leiba, Andrey Vinokurov