Whatâs behind the accelerating shift of younger Americans toward the Democratic Party? David A. Hopkins on the far-reaching consequences of a widening generational divide. Next Generation Whatâs behind the accelerating shift of younger Americans toward the Democratic Party? David A. Hopkins on the far-reaching consequences of a widening generational divide. Sam McNamara Once again dominating U.S. political news, former President Donald Trump was arraigned on June 13 in Miami on 37 federal charges for taking classified documents from the White House and refusing to return them. Itâs the latest Trump story in a stream thatâs absorbed American media from the time he declared his first presidential candidacy eight years ago. Since then, mainstream U.S. political talk has focused regularly on Trumpâs takeover of the Republican Party, the roiling populism itâs have unleashed, and the implications of it all for an American democracy sometimes apparently under threat. Meanwhile, a striking change has been taking place across a vast swath of American society thatâs determining more and more of American democracyâs future: its younger voters. And itâs a change that could have major implications not just for Trumpâs style of politics but for the United Statesâ election results and national policies for decades to come. Large majorities of the two youngest generations of AmericansâMillennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z (1997 and 2010)âconsistently support opinions to the left of the political center on their countryâs most controversial issues, whether on abortion, gun control, race, same-sex marriage, or transgender rights. Like many young generations in recent U.S. history, Millennials and Gen Z tend to vote for the Democratic Party more consistently than other age groups doâbut they also tend to identify with the Democrats much more strongly than previous generations did when they were young. Whatâs happening here? David A. Hopkins is an associate professor of political science at Boston College. As Hopkins sees it, this great shift to the left among younger voters is part of a major social transformation in America. Itâs visible in the ways influential U.S. institutionsâfrom universities to entertainment media, to corporationsâhave been adopting and promoting progressive moral and political positions on questions of identity, race, and gender. And itâs started to alter the composition of the Democratic Partyâs baseâalong with the partyâs political rhetoric and policy priorities. Itâs not clear, however, what these changes will mean for American politics in the longer term, Hopkins saysânot least because ultimately, American politics tends to reshape itself around the larger social and generational changes that are continually reshaping the country. Advertisement Michael Bluhm: What do we know about the political beliefs and party allegiances of Millennial and Generation Z voters? David A. Hopkins: We know theyâre clearly Democratic-leaning. The Democratâs advantage when it comes to party identification and voting is greater among Millennials and Gen Z than it is among any older generationâand arguably greater than itâs been among any older generation when it was younger. In other words, what weâre seeing now isnât just, yet again, people leaning to the left when theyâre young and then moving to the right as they age. Weâre seeing younger generations that lean more to the left than previous generations ever have at their age. This extends to peopleâs positions on issues, as well. Itâs not just that Millennials and Gen Z tend to prefer Democrats to Republicans; itâs also that Millennials and Gen Z tend to lean to the left ideologically on economic and cultural issues, compared to older Americans. The generation gap is more pronounced on cultural issues, but thatâs less unusual than the growing gap on economic issues. Across the board, younger voters are further to the leftâboth than their elders are today or than younger voters were in previous generations. Bluhm: Why do you think younger voters are further left than previous generations were? Hopkins: Itâs a combination of things. One factor is demographics. This is the most racially diverse generation in American historyâparticularly in the composition of Hispanics and Asian Americans. But even among whites, we see the same generational differences in beliefs and Democratic affiliation. So race isnât the whole story. One constant in contemporary American history is that the political climate when youâre an adolescent or young adult can be very influential in shaping your political identity. Barack Obama was an especially popular president with younger people, and Donald Trump was an especially unpopular president with younger people. In the last 15 years, American politics has presented a strong contrast between the parties thatâs tended to work among younger Americans to the Democratsâ advantage. On culture-war issuesâlike sexual identity, race, gender equalityâyounger people are living in a social environment that puts most of them further to the left than their parents and grandparents ever were. Hopkins: There is some evidence of a shift to the right among younger voters. That wouldnât be too surprising, given how we usually see a pattern like that from generation to generation. But itâs complicated by the fact that more people in younger generations are voting from one election to the next. Turnout rates rise with age, so more people of every generation start voting as they get older. In other words, the Millennials who voted in the 2020 election are not the same ones who voted in the 2008 election. Some werenât old enough to vote in 2008, and some who voted in 2020 had decided not to vote in 2008. Mauro Mora More from David A. Hopkins at The Signal: âIn the last 20 years, thereâve been a lot of stories about dramatic changes in the Republican Party. But itâs important to recognize that the Democrats are changing, too. One critical implication of this change is that the Democratic Party now has a different set of constituencies with different beliefs and priorities. As a result, Democratic candidates no longer feel as worried about moving to the left on cultural issues. They used to be concerned about alienating non-college-educated whites, who usually had relatively traditionalist views on gay rights, gun control, and abortion. Democrats today mostly represent a coalition of non-whites and college-educated whites who have more progressive cultural views. Thatâs allowed their party to become more united on issues and policy than it used to be. And it hasnât worried nearly as much about appealing to non-college whites.â âThe change on the Democratic side is underappreciated. Itâs been more gradual, and there havenât been major breaks. There has not been a figure like Trump to symbolize a transformative break with the past, either. But the Democratic Party has gradually become quite different than it used to be. It not only has a different set of constituencies; it has a different approach to governing. One major change is in attitudes toward expertise. Democrats have come to stand for being the party of experts and science. They listen to people with credentials and make policies that experts recommend, whether environmental, healthcare, education, or civil-rights policy. The Democratic Party today is a technocratic party. Itâs a party that believes in the rule of experts and expert-led institutions. Thatâs not necessarily the party of Harry Truman or George McGovern, but itâs definitely the party of Obama and Biden.â âParty identification is the most stable of all political identities in America. The Democrats are the party of the rising young generation, so they hope that translates over time into a growing national share of the vote from one election to the next. They also hope that that pattern of generational stability in party identification holds. The rosy scenario for the Democrats is that itâs just a matter of time before Millennials and Gen Z are a big enough chunk of the electorate to give the Democrats an inherent advantage in elections. To temper that hope, Iâd point out that this development will take a long time. Turnout rates for young voters are so much lower than for older voters that the median age of a U.S. voter is in the fifties. The oldest Millennials will take another 15 years to get to the median voter age. This shift isnât going to change the electoral outlook for 2024 or 2028.â [Continue reading ...]( [The Signal]( explores urgent questions in current events around the worldâto support it and for full access: [Subscribe now]( The Signal | 1717 N St. NW, Washington, DC 20011 [Unsubscribe {EMAIL}](
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