HOW TO BUILD A YOUTH WING

“WHY PEOPLE STAY WITH US
– AND WHAT WE DO TO PRE-
VENT THEM FROM LEAVING”
Almost half of the Liberal Party’s’ members of the Danish Parliament has
got a past in the youth wing. The aspiration to become a future political candidate
contributes to a dynamic and vibrant atmosphere within the youth
wing, which tends to be one of the major reasons why people stay.
The list of candidates is expanding quickly when the president
of the Danish Liberal Youth, Morten Dahlin, counts the
prominent Danish politicians who started their career within
his youth wing: The former prime minister, the party’s present
political spokesperson, a long list of former ministers, a
vide range of mayors throughout the country, and the present
Secretary General of NATO:
“It’s beyond any doubt a great advantage to start in the Liberal
youth wing if you want a political career within the Liberal
Party. We have 47 members in the present parliament, and 21
of them started here,” says Morten Dahlin, the head of the
youth wing for almost one year.
The close collaboration with the mother party is an important factor in terms of maintaining
an interesting and attractive atmosphere:
“It is part of the Liberals’ greater political project to ensure good relations with the youth
wing. New political talents keep on emerging from here. And for us, the youth politicians, it
is quite stimulating to know that your mother party actually invites you to give your say on
different specific political positions and also on the overall strategy. It contributes to a serious
and professional attitude. We know that our suggestions are taken into consideration
and that they might eventually end up in new and more liberal laws affecting the whole
country,” says Morten Dahlin.
While the political cooperation with the mother party is an important – and for many an
extremely attractive – part of the life and mission of the youth wing, it is still not its primary
function. The Liberal Youth was established in 1908 with the purpose of securing general
public information with a liberal focus. The youth wing is still aspiring to be a liberal spearhead
through initiatives carried out by and for members:
“To keep our members we have to re-think our public information all the time. New
members tend to be younger and younger. We have to adjust our work to the different age
groups. The young ones need quite a lot of training and capacity building whereas the older
members only stay with us if they are involved in more academic discussions and the development
of the political positions,” says Morten Dahlin, who also underlines the importance
of the learning of valuable competences as a factor which tends to make people stay:
“You will not only find many former members of our youth wing within parliament. They
also hold many leading positions in the economic life. I guess it’s quite natural. As a youth
politician you first of all learn about politics and how to get political influence. But you also
learn to network, debate, listen to others, take decisions – and not least motivate others.”
HOW TO BUILD A YOUTH WING DANIsH INsTITUTe fOr pArTIes AND DemOcrAcY pAGe 41