YMCA Youth and Government

YMCA Youth and Government (Y&G), also known as YMCA Youth In Government or YMCA Model Legislature and Court (MLC), is a YMCA program in the United States that allows high school students to serve in model governments at the local, state, national, and international levels.

The YMCA Youth and Government program currently operates in 38 states and Washington, DC.

Each state may participate in the national programs, which include: the YMCA Youth Conference On National Affairs (CONA), YMCA National Judicial Competition, YMCA Youth Governors Conference, and YMCA Youth Advocate Program.

The YMCA Youth and Government program was established in 1936 in New York by Clement “Pete” Duran, then the Boys Work Secretary for the Albany YMCA. The program motto, “Democracy must be learned by each generation,” was taken from a quote by Dr. Earle T. Hawkins, the founder of the Maryland Youth and Government program.

In 2000, the American Bar Association became a supporter of the organization, creating a policy requesting lawyers to become involved in the program by stressing the importance of engaging and educating students about the United States legal process. About this issue, Sandra Day O'Connor and Roy Romer said in 2006:

Most young people today simply do not have an adequate understanding of how our government and political system work, and they are thus not well prepared to participate as citizens.

As of 2012, the program operates in 37 states and the District of Columbia, serving 47,000 high school students around the country.

The organization's mission is to "help create the next generation of thoughtful, committed and active citizens" by teaching them the "principles of a democratic society." They also intend to create leaders through their roles in the models of local, state and national government. The premise is that "leaders are developed by doing."

The model government programs include the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government, guided by teachers, volunteers or Youth Government staff. Volunteers may include attorneys from the American Bar Association, legislators, business people and other organizations, such as the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation.

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