The field of youth civic engagement has been enriched by interdisciplinary studies linking developmental psychology, sociology, and political science. The purpose of this study is to provide better understanding of the theories and perspectives guiding research on youth civic engagement. Several major studies were analyzed based on literature from 1990s' conventional, activist, and most recent literature. The field has benefited from several theoretical perspectives: a life-span approach, positive youth development, and other theories specific to civic engagement including theory of motivational change, situated learning theory, and sociopolitical development. Together, a life-span perspective and the positive youth development approach provide frameworks for research on youth civic engagement. The three theories that directly address the civic domain are in their early stages of elaboration and use by researchers. There are particular challenges in interdisciplinary work, because the assumptions on which theories are based and the criteria by which they are judged differ widely in different disciplines.