Nordic Journal of Youth Research

10.1177/110330880701500304 Political socialization and infl uence at the mercy of politicians A study of a local participation project amongst young people in Norway1 GURO ØDEGÅRD Norwegian Social Research, Norway This article explores the following research questions: do local participation projects, such as youth councils, have a socializing effect on young people’s political awareness; and do the young people involved attain power and infl uence in the local political fi eld? The earliest and widely acknowledged political participation project among young people in Norway — the Porsgrunn Model — is used as a case study. This study includes two surveys supplemented by qualitative material. Based on a theoretical framework related to political socialization, democracy and political infl uence, the author discusses the status of youth councils in general and the Porsgrunn Model in particular. The fi ndings imply that the local participation projects do not have an effect on young people’s political awareness in general. However, young people who are directly in-volved in the participation process have a higher degree of political awareness than those who are outside this process. It is argued that this may be a cumulative effect where young people who are already politically active are also attracted to these structures. Furthermore, the author claims that these youth councils occupy an unclear position in the democratic process, which leaves the young people’s possibilities to attain political infl uence at the mercy of politicians. Their ‘potential power ’ seems to be valuable only if they operate in an ‘elite-directed way’, when the formal political rules, norms and communicative competence are used