Abstract
In this essay, we examine the role that city governments can play in promoting youth civic engagement in a systematic and strategic fashion, especially through such innovations as youth commissions as well as related efforts to make youth empowerment part of the culture of city agencies and nonprofits that contract with the city. We analyze in detail two cities that have demonstrated notable success since their initial innovations in the mid-1990s: Hampton, Virginia, and San Francisco, California. These cities are widely recognized as two of the leaders in the field, and yet they have proceeded from very different starting points