Civic education and trust in institutions: the experience of the Campinas Youth Parliament

• Grant number: 24/07955-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Political Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Andréa Marcondes de Freitas
• Grantee: Luiz Gabriel Natividade Lima
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project aims to assess the impact of programs promoting civic education, with a specific focus on the Youth Parliament of Campinas. Centrally, the goal is to analyze the effect on the political confidence of young people participating in the 6th edition of the program in 2024. To achieve this, a quasi-experiment will be conducted, collecting information before and after the participation of young people in the program, dividing them into two groups: treatment and control. Both groups will consist of young people from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Through the technique of differences in differences and statistical analysis, the aim is to identify how the program impacts confidence in representative institutions among participants. In line with studies focused on political confidence and civic education for young people, it is expected that participation in the Youth Parliament of Campinas will have a positive effect on the political confidence of young people. Thus, this project aims to contribute to the evaluation of the effects of civic education programs on the behavior of young people, contributing to the literature on the subject, as well as to the foundation of public policies aimed at civic education.