Researching and advancing young people's role in politics, policy, and democracy.
Learn about the Centre for Youth Policy and our mission.
OUR MISSION
The Centre for Youth Policy (CYP) is an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. We study young people's role in democracy. We also work to make young people more present, more effective and longer-lasting in public life. Much of that work now happens directly with young elected officials, parliamentary candidates and political leaders across several regions. The Centre exists because the question of how young people participate in, influence, and transform democratic systems is not incidental to global politics; we believe it is central to it.
WHO WE ARE
Young people are changing politics in a lot of places at once. They run for office, organise protests, file lawsuits and build movements, often faster than older institutions can make sense of them. CYP started as an effort to bring careful, comparative research to that change.
Along the way we learned that research about young officeholders is much more useful when they're part of it. So alongside our trackers and reports, we now run networks, fellowships and convenings for young elected leaders. The research shows us what they're up against. The programmes are how we respond, and what we learn from them shapes the next round of research.
We work on one subject only: youth political participation. That covers representation, barriers to candidacy, retention and generational fairness. Keeping the focus narrow is what lets us compare a councillor in Lithuania with a state legislator in Tripura and see what their problems have in common.
OUR RESEARCH
Global Youth Tracker. A live database covering 220 countries. It shows which governments have a youth ministry or department, which have no formal way of engaging young people, and how many leaders under 35 hold power.
India Youth Tracker and Lok Sabha 2024 Tracker. Candidate-level data on youth candidacy, results and representation in the world's largest democracy.
After They Win (2026). Our flagship study is based on a 12-month survey of 100 young elected and appointed officials in 73 countries. Most work on youth in politics stops at election day, and this report picks up where that work leaves off. Its findings:
Election Watch. Fast analysis of elections worldwide. It looks at who's on the ballot, who's turning out and which young candidates are being kept off. Recent pieces have covered Haiti, South Africa and Kenya.
Youth Policy Review Series. Close readings of national youth policies, from Portugal to South Africa, that ask whether commitments on paper lead to real change.
We publish policy briefs, papers, leader profiles and commentary. Our readers are researchers, policymakers, journalists and young politicians.
OUR NETWORKS
Young MPs are usually well connected at home. Across borders, they have almost nothing. A 29-year-old legislator in Estonia and another in Lithuania may be dealing with the same problems, but there's rarely any lasting structure that lets them work on those problems together.
We've been working to change that. CYP has helped establish a growing family of regional Young Parliamentarians Networks:
CYP serves as the secretariat and fiscal sponsor for each of these networks. We handle coordination, operations and financial administration, so the parliamentarians can focus on the work itself. Together, the networks connect us with well over 100 parliamentarians and political leaders, and that number keeps growing. They are meant to last. Our aim is permanent regional infrastructure for the next generation of elected leaders, not another conference circuit or mailing list.
Each network is built around three things.
Peer relationships. MPs from neighbouring countries often face the same political, institutional and generational problems. The networks give them a regular, structured way to learn from each other.
Practical support in office. Our survey found that most young officials are trying to do the job without staff. Through CYP and our partners, network members can get help with:
We are also building an AI staffing assistant that gives young parliamentarians research and drafting support between sessions.
Regional cooperation. Youth unemployment, migration, climate resilience, misinformation and political inclusion don't stop at national borders. The networks give young legislators a place to agree on shared priorities and, where it makes sense, to pursue joint initiatives.
Global Emerging Leaders Forum on Democracy. This is our annual closed-door gathering of young elected officials, party leaders and members of government from around the world. It is held under the Chatham House Rule, and the first edition took place in Goa, India, in July 2026.
Youth & Democracy Conference. Our annual academic conference brings together scholars, policymakers, practitioners and young officeholders. The 2026 edition was held at Marwadi University in India.
Staff Your Office. This programme matches young elected officials with remote volunteers who support their offices with research, communications and policy work for four to six months.
WHY IT MATTERS
The average head of government is over 60. In most parliaments, members under 40 are a small minority and members under 30 are rare. The typical MP is more than twice the median age of the people they represent.
That gap shapes what gets decided. Climate policy, housing, student debt and the rules for new technology are mostly set by the people who will live with the results for the shortest time.
Young people have noticed. Protests in Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, Georgia and elsewhere have shown how quickly generational frustration becomes political pressure. What's less clear is whether that pressure makes it into parliaments and city halls, or keeps cycling between protest and burnout.
Our own research points to a second problem. Getting young people elected is only half the job. Once they win, many are:
A system that recruits young leaders but can't keep them hasn't fixed much.
CYP exists to document that problem carefully. We also work to build the support that keeps young officials in office long enough to make a difference.
The Centre for Youth Policy is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit organization. Diverse funding sources enable the Centre to maintain its independence. We are committed to being transparent about the sources of support for our operations, programs, research, and projects, and we retain complete editorial control of our work regardless of funding sources.
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