La regulación jurídica de la participación juvenil en España y Europa

Abstract

Youth age is one of the many different circumstances that can change the manner in which citizens decisively participate in society and institutions. Spanish and European public law has specific rules governing the relations of citizens, in their youth, with the public authorities, through political and administrative institutions and bodies. These norms have legal‐historical roots, knowledge of which helps to clarify their current meaning and scope. The aforementioned are analysed in three parts. Firstly, the original aspects of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 (CE), in recognising young people as strategic actors in development (Article 48 CE), justifies a thorough study of the constitutional mandates for young people from a comprehensive perspective. The second part deals with the Spanish legaladministrative development of youth participation, in line with the constitutional scheme. The regional and national legal norms have developed specific public channels for youth participation that have prioritised specific organic techniques (youth councils of different nature) over other aggregate techniques (complementary, peripheral or alternative), even with a very heterogeneous specification. The third part addresses with the analysis of European youth participation law. This is the result of the specialisation in the field of youth by the organic and competence systems of the Council of Europe and the European Union. Ultimately, the right to participation of young citizens in Spain and Europe still presents a challenge to the legal theory of consolidating the systematics of a heterogeneous and dispersed set of legal rules.