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Participation—for a change: Disabled young people lead the way
Author(s) -
Badham Bill
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1002/chi.821
Subject(s) - mantra , government (linguistics) , inclusion (mineral) , public relations , social change , orthodoxy , unit (ring theory) , service (business) , public administration , public policy , service delivery framework , sociology , political science , psychology , business , social science , law , marketing , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics education , theology , archaeology , history
Virtually every Government programme for children and every Government Department in the UK is expected to involve children and young people in its policy development and service delivery (Children and Young People's Unit, 2001). It is the new orthodoxy. Yet, hard questions are often avoided when reciting the mantra of participation. Why bother? What has changed as a result? This paper first seeks to explore the constraints and limitations of this drive in public policy in England. Secondly, by looking at one specific example, it considers elements of practice to enable participation to be effective as a catalyst for change. Third, it proposes a framework that sets out an agenda for social inclusion that is itself influenced by children and young people and not reliant on the changing and often clashing fashions in Government.