Why Participate in Civil Society? Exploring the motives behind civic participation among students in Ethiopia

We deploy a survey experiment in the context of a baseline survey of undergraduate students at Addis Ababa University. Using participation in an NGO-lead forum designed to provide youth with additional opportunities to engage with civil society actors, we investigate the factors that motivate students to participate in civil society. Specifically, we will measure the effect of the treatment conditions on respondents (i) interest in participating, (ii) their agreement to participate, and (iii) their actual participation in a half-day civil society forum. This research will shed light on why young people pursue civically active lives and produce insights that can be used by civil society organizations to increase youth engagement.