Youth study Montenegro 2018/2019

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Author: Petar Đukanović

Publishing year: 2019

Young people comprise a fifth of the population of Montenegro. Decision-makers often lose them from focus, although young people should be at the centre of every politically important and strategic move. Consequently, young people are also distancing themselves from politics in the broadest sense, and they have the least trust in political institutions and holders of political functions. And the success of the democratic transition of society is also measured by the extent to which young people are ready and motivated to assume the responsibility of helping shape social development via official as well as unconventional forms of political engagement and volunteerism. The vast majority of young people have not even performed voluntary work, and voluntary engagement and youth activism account for a worryingly low percentage of activities occupying the leisure time of young people.

Young people grow up in a society burdened by corruption, nepotism and other phenomena that undermine meritocratic principles that should govern access to employment and career advancement, but also in education. Such a context develops attitudes in young people that justify procedures for acquiring jobs through relationships and corruption, as well as the perception that social mobility and advancement depend more on political connections and power, and less on knowledge and one’s own efforts.