Democracy Dictionary : Jargon Buster

Action Committee - This is a group set up to achieve something specific, usually political, using petitions etc. If you have a group of friends supporting you in your bid to be elected Young Mayor, they could form your Action Committee.

Advisory Group - A group of people brought together to advise an organisation on a particular subject, their general priorities or on policy or service development. Advisory groups can be made up of adults, or of children and young people. If the group exists to give advice on a particular issue, members will usually be chosen because of their personal experience and knowledge. If the group is looking at a range of issues, then the group should be made up of a broad mix of people.

BME - Black and Minority Ethnic communities.

Campaign - If you want to get elected as Young Mayor, you’re going to need to run a campaign. This can be defined as a series of co-ordinated activities, such as speeches or petitions, designed to achieve a political goal – in this case, your election.

Candidate Statement - If you decide to run for election, people will need to know what you stand for and what you want to do if you get elected. Your Candidate Statement – sometimes called a manifesto – is the document you need to write, outlining your policies, ideas and plans.

Canvassing - Persuading people to vote for you / a particular person.

Champions - Young Mayors are sometimes referred to as “champions”. This refers to the fact that they are meant to be someone within the local community who promotes (or “champions”) young people’s rights and their opportunities to participate in decision-making.

Constituency - For Young Mayors, this is the whole group of voters who will elect you and who you will have to represent – e.g. anyone aged 11 – 18 within your Borough.

Constituents - A constituent is someone from your constituency who can vote for the Young Mayor – e.g. someone aged 11 – 18 within your Borough.

Consultation - This is the process of seeking views and ideas from young people. Councils quite often like to ask young people for their views on a particular issue, but young people can also be the ones who carry out the consultation on a subject that is of interest to them.

Elected members - People who have been elected to the Council / councillors.

Empowerment - To give ability, power or authority to someone.

Induction - Anyone who is thinking about running for the Young Mayor’s position will be invited to attend a training and development event, to get to know more about what the role involves. This might be referred to as an Induction Day.

Involvement - This is the over-all term for children and young people being included in decision-making. This can range from young people being involved at the suggestion of adults, without having any real understanding of the process, right through to young people being the ones who come up with the ideas and invite adults to join in on their terms.

Mandate - When young people elect a Young Mayor, they have chosen that person to be their representative and given them permission – a mandate - to speak publicly on their behalf.

Manifesto - See Candidate Statement.

Participation - Participation is when young people actively take part in the decision-making process, from start to finish, from the planning stage to the point where the decision is implemented.

Representation - Young Mayors are elected to stand up for and voice young people’s issues in their area – by doing this they are representing the young people that elected them.

Stakeholders - Everybody who has an interest in a project or organisation – for Young Mayors, this might include young people, youth workers, teachers, schools, the Council, the adult mayor and adults in your community.

UKYP - The UK Youth Parliament is a national organisation representing the views and interests of young people aged 11 – 18 from all over the UK. There are over 500 Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs). Young Mayors who also have MYPs in their area tend to work closely with them to promote young people’s issues in their community and beyond.

Youth Cabinet / Youth Council - A forum which represents the views of young people at a local level. Run by young people for young people, youth cabinets / councils give young people a voice, enabling them to make their views heard in the decision-making process.