Youth aspirtion survey in Republic of Macedonia Trust in Army Police Religious institutions Macedonians 62 49 41 Albanians 49 40 55 Total 57 48 45.2 Table 4. Ethnic belonging and the trust of the youth in institutions(in percentages) people are faced with. Perceptions of Social Engagement and Institutional Involvement Of interest is the fact that the majority of the respondents expect to improve their living conditions by themselves, and they do not intend to ask for help from anyone else. A number of others count on the help offered from their close relatives, and only 6.6% of them expect help from the state. Most of those who responded that they will improve their living conditions by themselves consider that they will achieve that by a new, better-paying employment (32.7%) or by establishing their own business(34.7%, or 20% of the total number of the respondents). According to these statistics, it seems that more and more of the young population are self-confident and do not expect that their problems will be solved by someone else. Bearing in mind the problems that face the youth, most of them think that Macedonia is going in the wrong direction. At the same time they also identified the greatest problem, which, according to them, the country has taken the wrong direction in attempts to solve. A majority of the respondents who declared that Macedonia is going in the wrong direction consider the greatest problem to be unemployment and the failure to reduce it(40%). A great number of others choose corruption(32.3%), and 20.6% think that the poverty is the fundamental problem in Macedonia. An interesting, but also worrisome, fact is that as many as 32.4% of young people could not decide on which direction the country is going in solving its most urgent problems. However, a majority of this group of respondents have located what they think to be the most urgent problem, and, again, it is unemployment. Poverty was a close second, but in any case, poverty is also a natural consequence of unemployment. In attempting to reduce unemployment, efforts should be primarily directed towards addressing the root causes, and these are corruption and the lack of new job opportunities. The largest proportion of young people think that the government bears the responsibility for solving those problems(48%), 33% look to the political parties, while international organizations and private companies each were named by 22%. This situation reveals a paradox within Macedonia society. Namely, young people place the most responsibility for solving societal problems on an institution they don't have confidence in, the government, and their second institution of choice is one which they trust even less than the government. This data may help explain why more than 60% of the youth are not active in public life. To expect help from an entity they lack confidence in likely increases the passivity and inactivity of the youth in the Republic of Macedonia. If we examine the results more carefully, we'll see that the largest factor that affects this phenomenon is age. Young people between the ages of 26 and 30 typically think that the government or the parties have the greatest influence in solving problems. While, like the other age groups, their confidence in the government and the parties is low, they have the greatest rate of political party membership(21%, compared to 11% and 15% for the other two groups). From these findings we can draw the following conclusions: 1. The political socialisation of young people depends on their age; but also 2. Adults, and therefore the most politically­socialized young people, expect help from the intermediating and public institutions in the political system to a greater extent. These conclusions suggest the possibility that a "political clientelism" may develop among the young people, especially among those between the ages of 26 and 30. But events are not predetermined to move in that direction, as that age group of young people, more than any other group, identifies private companies as having the greatest influence in solving problems. But what are the factors that bring about these attitudes? Young people between the ages of 26 and 30 are to the greatest extent interested in economics, i.e. business, and their interest considerably increases with each level of education. Thus, we can draw a conclusion that there are politically socialized young people of a certain age who tend to rely on political and public institutions to solve the problems, and young people of a certain age and higher levels of education who see the solutions in the private sector. In both cases, young people of the age between 26 and 30 more often show confidence in their own potential and their readiness to personally take part in solving their own problems. The situation in the other Balkan countries is similar. Studies have shown that"whereas high levels of education do not decrease young people's risk of remaining unemployed, it nonetheless decreases the risk of their remaining indifferent and discouraged". 13 The younger respondents, aged 18 to 22, are less confident in their abilities and they are less prepared to participate in public life. For them, public life activities are not a challenge and they are mostly interested in entertainment (according to 30% of this group). The respondents aged 22 to 26, particularly those who have or will have higher levels of education, are much more self-confident and want to be actively included in the solving of the problems. Despite their good intencollapse of the communist system and its programmes for young people created a vacuum in the politics for the young people". 14 In theory, public institutions recognize the use of including young people and providing mechanisms for their involvement, for example, through opportunities to volunteer. A survey conducted in public institutions in several Balkan countries reveals that more _____________________________________________________________ 13 La Cava, et al. Youth in South Eastern Europe: From Risk to Empowerment, World Bank: January 2005, p. 73 14 Ibid, p. 12 Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 16