Why Do Youth Participate in Processes They Do Not Trust? Youth Participation and Trust in State Digitalization in Kenya and Turkey

Dominant literature on youth politics suggests that young people with low trust in state institutions tend to withdraw from formal, state-controlled political avenues, a claim derived from studies conducted in advanced, early industrialized liberal democracies. This study challenges dominant claims made in the literature by exploring youth participation in neopatrimonial settings, where state bureaucracy and patron-client networks coexist. Focusing on youth participation in state digitalization programs, this research discusses why distrusting youth participate in state controlled political processes. State digitalization programs, while designed to extend state control, also provide opportunities for distrusting youth to employ clientelistic exchanges as tools of covert resistance. Based on participant observations and qualitative interviews in Kenya and Turkey, the study reveals that distrusting youth utilize state-controlled participation platforms, not only to gain resources but also to subtly resist state objectives from within institutional frameworks.