Res Humanitariae

The issue of active citizenship is very topical in modern society. Particular attention is paid to the promotion of civic activity by youth and the creation of positive experience. National surveys show increasing engagement among young people in various activities, but they also show that young people are more likely to notice and see the threats posed by active citizenship. Therefore, the article aims to research the attitude of young people towards an assessment of active citizenship in society, the threats and benefits it brings. Qualitative research methods were used to gain a detailed and comprehensive understanding of attitudes: analysis of literature, focus group discussion, and content analysis. In the discussions, informants mentioned most often that citizenship is viewed both positively and negatively (especially in relation to political activity). The study revealed that when discussing the risks of active citizenship, young people mentioned most often the physical threats to the health and life of an active citizen when performing compulsory or voluntary military service. Other possible active citizenship threats indicated were: provoking intolerance and encouraging confrontation between different groups. The discussion also identified the perceived and noticed benefits of active citizenship to young people. Those most frequently mentioned by the informants were: helping groups or professions in difficulty; creating a better environment through basic putting in order and doing one’s duty. Some of the statements by the informants show that examples of active citizenship create a sense of community and tolerance, as well as being ‘contagious’ (setting an example) and encouraging young people to join various organisations.

In the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, an opposition between official medicine and folk medicine, partly based on ethnic aspects, formed in Lithuania. The article analyses the alternation in the ‘self-other’ opposition in the choice of treatment. Folk medicine traditions existed alongside standard medicine in the town of Aukštadvaris, which was characterised as multi-confessional in the first half of the 20th century (despite the tensions, Lithuanians, Poles, Jews and Tartars lived together harmoniously). Faith healers with extraordinary qualities or powers were classified as ‘other’. So the choice of treatment reveals two aspects: the concept of ethnicity, and mythical perception (when dealing with those engaged in other activities). Studies have shown that in a disaster or illness, the ‘self-other’ opposition declines. An opposition between official medicine and folk medicine did not form in the Aukštadvaris area.

This study is focused on social media in China and its influence on youth civic participation. In China, a trend of increasing usage of social media platforms has been observed, in particularly WeChat, Weibo, QQ, Douyin, and Meitu. The aim of this research is to explore the link between the use of these social media platforms and civic participation among the youth in China, specifically, whether social media platforms have positive effect on encouragement of youth civic participation. The use of social media platforms is measured by the number of social media accounts, the duration of usage of these accounts, and the average time spending on social media accounts weekly, while civic participation through social media is to measure both civic participation activities and its link with the social media usage.

Until the 2015 elections, youth policy in Poland was treated as a separate domain. There is no uniform legal basis concerned with the matters of young people. Youth rights are dealt with in several articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as well as a number of Acts: on Public Administration Branches, on the Education System, on Higher Education, on Employment Promotion and Labour Market Institutions, on NFZ General Health Insurance, on Combating Domestic Violence, on Social Employment, on Public Benefit Organisations and Voluntary Service, along with the Labour Code and certain government regulations. The first consistent document concerned with youth issues was the National strategy for young people for 2003–2014, adopted in 2003. Thereafter, the matters of youth policy were discussed in the report entitled Youth 2011, the document Poland 2030 – Third Wave of Modernity, the Long-Term National Development Strategy, and the Government Program for Social Activity of Youth for the years 2015–2016. Following the 2015 parliamentary elections, youth issues were given a lower priority. In the election manifesto of PIS (Law and Justice party), much attention was devoted to family policy, with youth policy being regarded as part thereof. Consequently, on 13 February 2018, the Family, Senior and Social Policy Committee of the Senate of the Republic of Poland adopted a Resolution on “Integrated youth policy”, presenting it as one of the areas of family policy.

Young people are a very important group of modern societies, they will replace the currently ruling generation and will shape our common future. Due to that, young people have become the relevant target of national and international policy and science researches. Youth civic participation is a key aspect of the development of a society and should be shaped by effective youth policy at national and international level. This paper is an attempt of determining the capacity of public institutions and non-government organizations to develop youth civic participation in the context of the European Union youth policy. It reveals the importance of various elements of the potential of institutions’ environment in increasing civic participation of young people on the example of the South Baltic Youth Core Groups Network project which is implemented within the South Baltic Program 2014–2020. The project’s partnership is represented by entities from Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden in which the quantitative research was carried out on civic participation of young people aged 14–24. The initial survey results have allowed confirming the hypothesis: the potential of the institutional environment of youth is not fully exploited in the process of increasing civic participation of young people in municipalities involved in the South Baltic Youth Core Groups Network Project. The research has revealed the strengths and weaknesses and barriers and opportunities of public institutions and non-government organizations to enhance youth civic participation in project partner countries.