(iPoster) Experiences with an Active Labor Program Delivery and Youth Political Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session: Human Rights & Issues in African Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Issues in African Politics

Abstract

Despite the plethora of studies on unemployment in the developing world, there is minimal account on how policy responses to unemployment are experienced by citizens. This early study examines how young people experience the delivery of an active labor market program in a developing country context and how this shapes their political attitudes and behavior. To build this argument, the study leverages policy feedback perspectives and interpretive qualitative inquiry. Data will be sourced from participants' evaluation of the program in Ghana and secondary sources. We discuss three mechanisms by which encounters with the state, evident in participation in an active labor program, could structure the political and civic capacities of young people. First, visibility of the policy to address unemployment could shape citizens' perceptions of the state as responding to prevailing public concerns of unemployment and reducing risk. Secondly, divergent experiences with aspects of the program implementation (ie. negative experiences from delivery gaps) orients citizens' imagination towards the state and political attitudes (eg. conception of rights-based citizenship, organized accountability demand). These (re)orientations affect youth’s state relations through “rights-claiming” contestations, mobilizations, and (or) diminished engagement. Finally, we argue that weak institutional capacity to implement the program could depress participating citizens' trust in state actors and institutions. We make the case that attention to experiences with public labor programs could be a site of youths' construction of civic identities, a venue for spurring political participation and democratic governance.

Background
Youth unemployment across the globe has received significant attention in recent times. Like other sub-Saharan African countries, Ghana is battling “economic inactivity” among its young people (Baah-Boateng, 2021). The phenomenon is evident in the protracted job search duration of people aged (15-29) in low and middle income countries (UNICEF, 2019). The increase in unemployment and job-skills mismatch has been particularly acute among young graduates and has drawn the attention of policy makers (Baah-Boateng, 2021). To highlight its severity, an Afrobarometer Report 2023 and Africa Youth Survey 2024 note that the majority of young people identify employment as being a topical issue for political leaders to address. Accordingly, there have been various policy responses to tackle the problem among which include active labor market programs adoption. Though predominantly associated with advanced welfare states, (Bonoli, 2013; Kluve, 2010; Esping-Andersen, 1990), versions of these active labor programs have gained traction and are used by developing countries such as Ghana to curb unemployment through engagement and skills training. The case of Ghana in this study presents an interesting opportunity to examine how social protection and labor market programs delivery in low-resource contexts can shape political attitudes and political behavior. By using policy feedback as an analytical lens (Pierson, 1993; Soss, 1999; Bruch et al. 2010; Kopec, 2024), and the Nation Builders Corps program, the study sheds light on how policy delivery experience can shape democratic action in a non-welfare state context.

Research Questions
1. How do young people describe their experiences with the design features and delivery of an active labor market program?
2. What are the democratic consequences of young people's participation and experiences in the program?

Data Sources and Analysis
Our analysis relies on two data sources. First, it draws from ongoing interviews being conducted with participants in the program (n=16). The second data source includes published documents and contents related to the program's implementation. The interpretative analytical approach involved memo writing, and focused coding to identify the “what” the “how” and the “why” (Wiesner, 2022) as they relate to graduate youth experiences in the active labor program and its resulting relationship with their political attitudes and behavior.

Implications
This study will contribute to two areas of scholarship. First, it enriches the field of policy feedback research by examining how young people's experiences with policies such as active labor market programs can be a site of civic learning and political action. By shedding light on how different characteristics and encounters with the program could shape political behavior, the study offers valuable insights for policy makers and implementers to optimize policy design and delivery for better outcomes.
Secondly, it offers an alternative assessment of active labor market policies which have traditionally been evaluated based on economic outcomes and methods such as RCT. The analysis makes a significant contribution by shedding light on how active labor market programs are experienced and the resulting political outcomes.

Authors

• Donatus Doe, University of Delaware

• Sarah Bruch, University of Delaware