Youth political leadership in modern Russia: Determination of the theoretical foundations and conceptual framework of the study

Abstract

Youth leadership today is one of the most relevant and widely discussed topics both at the level of the state and public administration and at the level of society. At the same time, youth political leaders become full subjects of public policy. The article attempts to comprehend and conceptualize the concept of youth political leadership taking into account the evolution of socio-humanitarian science and the current political field. The theoretical basis for this is developments in the field of political leadership and youth leadership. The study of scientific literature allows us to conclude that there is a number of problematic issues which dictate the need for additional theoretical scrutiny of the youth political leadership concept. Among such issues, the authors highlight: linguistic features of the translation of the concepts of “youth political leadership” and “youth political leader” in English-language literature; the definition of leaders as youth, when the researchers take the age criterion as a basis, which causes semantic contradictions; a narrow understanding of the political space, when only authorities and socio-political associations are considered behind the environment of the implementation of youth leadership. From the authors’ point of view, a youth political leader can be considered a youth leader who has become or pretends to become a political leader. The main criteria for categorizing youth political leaders are: their origin from the sphere of youth politics, the perception of their youth as political leaders, continuation of a political career in “adult” politics. Becoming a youth political leader means acquiring a professional affiliation with public policy or public administration.