The purpose of this article is to determine whether degenerative politics, a central proposition of democratic policy design theory or social constructivism, has been evident in Canadian youth criminal justice policy. Using a synchronic and diachronic case study design, the article conducts a rigorous content analysis of the legislative debates leading to the Young Offenders Act in 1982 and the Youth Criminal Justice Act in 2002. Policy makers’ social constructions of violent and nonviolent young offenders are measured, along with the benefit/burden content of the legislation, to determine whether young offenders have been caught in the downward spiral of degenerative politics. It finds evidence of degenerative politics for violent young offenders but not for nonviolent young offenders and explores some of the reasons for this divergence. Related Articles Related Media Films: Centre for Public Legal Education. . “Youth Criminal Justice in Action.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = KdZacGdgJrs International Public Policy Association. . “Public Policy Theory and Democracy.” http://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/teaching-ressource/public-policy-theory-and-democracy/9