ABSTRACT
This chapter presents data from the Italian sample of the Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation, PIDOP project, focusing on the explanatory role of organizational membership, and on how the quality of participation in such organizations affects youth civic and political participation. In particular, the evidence on migrant youth participation indicates that perceived social integration into the host society is important for explaining the civic and political participation of this population. The chapter examines the role of organizational membership and quality of participatory experiences in predicting youth's civic and political participation. Sociological surveys on nationally representative samples of youth conducted in Italy in the last 20 years have documented a constant increase of disgust toward formal politics. Organizational membership is an important precursor to civic and political participation because of its role in building social capital. According to Paxton, social capital increases the likelihood of people being civically and politically engaged because it enhances their capacity for agency.
