The present article is the product of a research project entitled Citizenship and social representations of politics in young people participating in social, political, economic and cultural organizations in Villavicencio. It is developed in the context of a literature review that accounts for the central category of youth citizenship, in order to identify and contrast the positions that have different authors in an attempt to get the inclusion of several actors and practices with regard to citizenship and forms of youth participation in expressions, consistent with the significant contribution of these actors with society. It also allows us to characterize the peculiarities of youth public participation, how they take such a commitment with the society to which they belong, the difficulties they face in exercising their role, the issues that mobilize their efforts and their way of conceiving the system.