Estudo sobre socialização política: a construção da cidadania e o Programa Vereador Mirim em uma cidade do norte no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The study analyzes the process of building Citizenship, from the perspective and understanding of the concepts of Political Socialization, Democracy and Non-School Education, in order to identify and establish a relationship regarding the political participation of young people and adolescents, together with a Program, called Junior Councilor, in the Legislative Branch of the city of Erechim – RS. As a basis for discussion, the process of political socialization experienced by young people and adolescents is considered. In this sense, the objective is to study the causes of formal political participation, in the aforementioned program, observing the political socializing means in order to know if political socialization is capable of motiva-ting political participation, still bearing in mind the current Brazilian political scenario. Data from testimonies obtained through a questionnaire were analyzed, under a qualitative perspec-tive, using the method of content analysis and its categorization technique. The forms of poli-tical participation defined by Baquero (1997, 2005 and 2008) were used as a typological refe-rence. The results pointed to a possible perspective of growing political confidence in the Leg-islative Power and, to a lesser extent, in political parties. Still, in the same sense, it is seen that the political socialization experienced by young people and adolescents still lacks greater in-volvement by the government (current context), but despite this, there is still interest in de-bates and issues related to political representation and engagement.