Participating socially and politically in the life of the city, state and country is still a major democratic challenge, especially when we look historically at the process of establishing democracy and Brazilian development. This research therefore aimed to understand the senses and meanings attributed to the action of social and political participation by young people in the semi-arid region of Arneiro, analyzing its relationship with sustainable regional development. The research is qualitative and quantitative in nature. The young people of Arneiroz showed that despite recognizing the political role of participation in transforming reality, they do not feel invited and therefore have little interest in effective participatory action. Reflecting a greater lack of attention to the governance process, these young people are also unaware of the public policies that are aimed at them, thus feeding back into the feeling of non-participation. It is therefore urgent to build new methodologies for participation that start from the deconstruction of this way of doing and living politics that has historically demarcated participatory acts in the semi-arid region.