Jordanian Youth and the Promises of Modernization: Gaps, Challenges, and Policy Recommendations
After several years of political, economic, and administrative modernization initiatives, the most important question today may be less about the laws enacted or institutions established, and more about how ordinary citizens-particularly young people-actually perceive these reforms. The success of any reform project is measured neither by the number of legislative measures adopted nor by the scale of the official discourse surrounding it, but by its ability to become a lived experience that people can feel in their daily lives, one that responds to their priorities and concerns while reflecting the realities and conditions of Jordan’s governorates.
This is precisely what gives particular significance to the recent study launched by the Politics and Society Institute, entitled “The Reality of Jordanian Youth across the Political, Economic, and Social Modernization Tracks,” conducted in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Rather than speaking about young people from a distance, the study begins with their own perspectives. Drawing on youth working groups across Jordan’s twelve governorates, as well as several Palestinian refugee camps, it seeks to assess the distance between the promises of modernization and the realities of everyday life, and between the opportunities, participation, and fairness that reform is expected to generate and what young people actually experience in cities, districts, towns, and villages.
The central paradox revealed by the study is that this gap remains wide. This is not because young people reject the modernization project, but because many have yet to feel that it has produced a tangible change in their lives. Contrary to the prevailing assumptions held by many political elites and public officials, there is a notable degree of interest in public affairs and a clear desire to participate. Yet trust in institutions remains low, while unemployment and limited economic opportunities continue to dominate young people’s concerns and overshadow nearly every other issue.
Across Jordan’s governorates, despite their differing socioeconomic conditions, the study reveals a remarkably consistent message: meaningful political inclusion cannot be expected from a young person who remains uncertain about securing employment after graduation, nor can sustained political or partisan engagement flourish in an environment where economic prospects are perceived as deeply uncertain. Unemployment therefore emerges not merely as an economic indicator, but as the central factor shaping young people’s relationship with the state, the public sphere, and their expectations for the future.
The report, however, extends well beyond the issue of unemployment, and this is one of its principal strengths. It draws attention to a range of challenges that often receive less prominence in public debate, including spatial inequalities between governorate centers and peripheral districts, disparities in public service provision, inadequate public transportation, the weak alignment between vocational training and labor market needs, and growing concerns surrounding mental health, drug abuse, and cybercrime. Rather than viewing these issues as isolated policy domains, the report presents them as interconnected elements of a broader ecosystem that collectively shapes young people’s quality of life and future opportunities.
Another significant finding is that young people do not reject vocational training itself; they reject training programs that conclude with little more than a certificate displayed on the wall. Instead, they call for training that leads directly to employment, with programs designed around the actual needs of local economies and the comparative advantages of each governorate, rather than replicating uniform initiatives across the country from north to south. They also advocate a more equitable distribution of development resources within each governorate, arguing that disparities no longer exist solely between Amman and the governorates, but increasingly between governorate centers and their surrounding districts, towns, and villages.
The study conveys an equally clear message in the political sphere. Young people do not appear disengaged from public affairs as much as they express a profound crisis of confidence in the effectiveness of existing channels of participation. Rebuilding that confidence therefore requires more than renewed political rhetoric. It depends on giving young people a genuine role in local decision-making and enabling them to see that their participation produces tangible improvements in their everyday lives.
Against this backdrop, the deliberations on the Local Administration Law during the extraordinary session of the House of Representatives assume particular significance. The legislation is not simply a technical exercise in redefining the relationship between municipalities and governorate councils; it has the potential to become one of the most important institutional gateways for reintegrating young people into public life. While the proposed legislation moves away from the direct election of governorate councils, it should, at a minimum, include clear safeguards guaranteeing the election of youth representatives to local and municipal councils, rather than relying on appointments regardless of the criteria used.
Ultimately, the report does not claim to offer a ready-made blueprint or definitive answers. Its greatest contribution lies elsewhere: it provides a rare opportunity to hear directly from young people across Jordan’s governorates, free from the assumptions that too often shape public debate. The message it conveys deserves careful consideration by policymakers, because the success of Jordan’s modernization agenda will not ultimately be measured by what is written in official strategies or legislative texts, but by what these young men and women will say five years from now about their lives, their opportunities, and their confidence in the state.