Children's and young people's influence and participation

The plan establishes that policy should be designed so that children's best interests come first and that deepened democratisation should increase people's influence over their own life situation. It also sees active participation in popular movements as a school in organising and democracy. Strengthening young people's influence and knowledge of their rights therefore aligns with the plan, even if influence councils are not mentioned.

• children's interests firstdecisive»Vänsterpartiets politik ska utformas så att barnens bästa kommer i första rummet« (party programme ↗)“The Left Party's policy should be designed so that children's best interests come first”
• influence over one's own life»öka människors inflytande över den egna livssituationen« (party programme ↗)“increase people's influence over their own life situation”
• organising gives democratic knowledge»Aktivt deltagande i folkliga rörelser ger kunskaper om organisering« (party programme ↗)“Active participation in popular movements provides knowledge about organising”
• young people's living conditions»Alltför många barn far illa idag och den psykiska ohälsan bland unga är utbredd« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Too many children are suffering today and mental ill-health among young people is widespread”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan is based on the child convention and that the best interests of the child shall be considered in all decisions, and establishes that democracy begins in everyday community and shall be formed in dialogue with civil society. Strengthening young people's influence and knowledge of their rights follows from this, as does the plan's view of popular education as the foundation of democracy. The plan does not mention a national influence council.

• the child convention as foundationdecisive»Alla barn ska ha rätt till en trygg uppväxt i enlighet med FN:s barnkonvention.« (party programme ↗)“All children shall have the right to a safe upbringing in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
• participation in everyday life»Demokratin börjar i vardagens gemenskap.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy begins in everyday community.”
• dialogue with civil society»formas i en levande dialog med det civila samhälle och ska skapa goda villkor för« (party programme ↗)“is formed in a living dialogue with civil society and shall create good conditions for”
• popular education strengthens democracy»Folkbildning ger stark demokrati och möjligheter till personlig utveckling vid sidan av den formella utbildningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Popular education gives strong democracy and opportunities for personal development alongside formal education.”

The plan establishes that children should be involved in shaping society and be seen as active co-creators, not passive recipients. It wants to lower the voting age to 16 years and make the Convention on the Rights of the Child Swedish law with child impact assessments. The counter-proposal's emphasis on young people's influence, tools and organization follows directly from these commitments.

• children's participationdecisive»Barn ska vara med och utforma samhället« (party programme ↗)“Children should be involved in shaping society”
• children as co-creators»Barn är aktiva medskapare« (party programme ↗)“Children are active co-creators”
• young people's influence in democracy»sänka rösträttsåldern till« (party programme ↗)“lower the voting age to”
• the Convention on the Rights of the Child as law»barnkonvention ska bli svensk lag och politiska« (party programme ↗)“Convention on the Rights of the Child should become Swedish law and political”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan's fundamental idea is every person's right and ability to themselves shape their future, and it makes increased user influence for, among others, students a part of decentralization. The counter-proposal's demand that state initiatives for young people give them power to shape their lives and influence over societal development therefore follows from the plan. The plan also puts children's rights and perspective first in society's activities.

• agency to shape one's lifedecisive»Vi tror på varje människas rätt och förmåga att själv forma sin egen framtid.« (party programme ↗)“We believe in every person's right and ability to themselves shape their own future.”
• increased user influence»öka brukarinflytandet så att de som går i skolan, eller de som har behov av omsorg« (party programme ↗)“increase user influence so that those who attend school, or those who need care”
• child rights perspective»Av största betydelse är då barnens rättigheter och perspektiv.« (party programme ↗)“Of the greatest importance is then children's rights and perspective.”
• child's right to be seen»Särskilt viktigt är att värna varje barns rätt att bli respekterad och att bli sedd för den man är.« (party programme ↗)“Especially important is to protect every child's right to be respected and to be seen for who they are.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan establishes that democracy must be explained and won over for new generations and that it presupposes active citizens and living democratic dialogue. Children and young people should be respected as individuals with increasing own responsibility, and civil society is identified as what increases democratic participation. The counter-proposal's requirements for youth influence and participation with support for youth organisations thus align with the plan.

• democracy won over for new generationsdecisive»Den svenska demokratin och våra medborgerliga rättigheter måste förklaras och vinnas för nya generationer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish democracy and our civil rights must be explained and won over for new generations.”
• young people as rights-bearers»Barn och ungdomar har rätt att respekteras som individer« (party programme ↗)“Children and young people have the right to be respected as individuals”
• civil society gives influence»Det civila samhället ökar det demokratiska deltagandet och människors inflytande i samhälleliga processer.« (party programme ↗)“Civil society increases democratic participation and people's influence in societal processes.”
• active citizens»Demokratin förutsätter aktiva medborgare och ett levande demokratiskt samtal.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy presupposes active citizens and living democratic dialogue.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme requires that in the political system one listens to and takes into account young people's views, especially those who lack the right to vote, and that young people have the right to good growing-up conditions. Public support shall primarily be directed toward youth activities. The counter-proposal's emphasis on young people's influence and participation therefore follows from the plan, which however points to associations and municipal bodies as channels.

• listen to young people's viewsdecisive»I det politiska systemet måste man lyssna på och beakta ungdomars synpunkter när beslut fattas.« (party programme ↗)“In the political system one must listen to and take into account young people's views when decisions are made.”
• good growing-up conditions»Ungdomar har rätt till goda uppväxtvillkor som tillgodoser både behovet av trygghet och personlig utveckling.« (party programme ↗)“Young people have the right to good growing-up conditions that meet both the need for safety and personal development.”
• support for youth organizations»Det offentliga stödet ska i första hand inriktas mot barn- och ungdomsverksamhet.« (party programme ↗)“Public support shall primarily be directed toward youth activities.”
• municipal youth bodies»olika organ för ungdomar i den kommunala organisationen.« (party programme ↗)“various bodies for young people in the municipal organization.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan has no commitment regarding youth influence or a national influence council. Instead, it emphasizes parental responsibility and that politics must prioritize and exclude, while children's development shall be promoted through schools, social services and security. Based on the closest lying principle, the plan therefore does not support new government structures for youth influence.

• parental responsibility firstdecisive»Betona och förstärka föräldraansvaret« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Emphasize and strengthen parental responsibility”
• political prioritization»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort« (party programme ↗)“Politics has an important task to prioritize and exclude”
• children's development is prioritized»Samhällets viktigaste investering för framtiden är barns utveckling.« (party programme ↗)“Society's most important investment for the future is children's development.”
• reforms can wait»Vi vet vad som måste göras – och vad som får vänta.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We know what must be done – and what can wait.”

The plan's line for youth policy is to end political experiments on children and young people and instead invest in knowledge, security and active associational life, not new state influence structures. A national influence council and a special knowledge investment thus fall outside the plan's priorities, which also involve restraint with new public expenditures. The plan says nothing about the committee's reasoning that existing state grants and dialogues are sufficient.

• stop political experimentsdecisive»Avsluta de politiska experimenten på Sveriges barn och unga« (2022 manifesto ↗)“End political experiments on Sweden's children and young people”
• young people subjected to experiments»Under alldeles för lång tid har Sveriges unga utsatts för politiskt motiverade experiment.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“For far too long Sweden's young people have been subject to politically motivated experiments.”
• associational life before new bodies»Det är också viktigt att skapa bättre förutsättningar för ungdomarna att hitta utlopp för sina intressen och stimulera till ett aktivt föreningsliv.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is also important to create better conditions for young people to find outlets for their interests and stimulate active associational life.”
• restraint with spending»Skala bort onödiga utgifter i det offentliga« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Scale back unnecessary public expenditures”