[A research piece originally written for UCSB's Magazine Writing course in December of 2019.]
The 2016 Presidential Election shocked us all. Through all the mud-slinging, name- calling, and rumor-spreading of the campaign season, no one on either side of the political spectrum truly believed that Donald Trump – the grumpy man from the TV show, The Celebrity Apprentice – could pull it off. When he did, many did not take it well. Trump’s opponents grew solemn, confused, defeated, frustrated, and even scared.
A large number of young people, especially, felt the burden of Trump’s victory, a victory which left a notable impact on that demographic. Today, nearly four years later, young people tend to view politics differently than they did before the 2016 election. A sentiment of disillusionment has swept through many of America’s young people, namely Generation Z. So, what does this mean for American democracy and political participation? More importantly, what does it mean for America’s future?
According to an article from Business Insider (1), the Gen-Z age group is made up of individuals born around 1997 or later – today, that includes that anyone aged roughly 23 or younger. This group is consistently the least represented in American voter turnouts, as young people have practically always voted less than their parents and grandparents in the five decades since the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18.
American Behavioral Scientist, a journal which publishes social- and behavioral-scientific research, reports, “The fact that older citizens vote in larger numbers than young voters by itself is neither new nor necessarily surprising. This has always been so, due largely to the less settled and still developing (economically, educationally, politically, socially, etc.) nature of younger citizens,”(2). For example, only 39.6 percent of young people voted in 1996, compared with 56.9 percent of people ages 30 to 44, 68.2 percent of people ages 45 to 64, and 72 percent of people age 65 and older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (3).
We saw the same thing even 16 years later, when only 38 percent of young people voted in the 2012 presidential election, a year in which 69.7 percent of people age 65 and older did the same. In modern America, it’s become largely accepted that young people just don’t really like to vote, and no one gives much thought to it anymore.
However, an already underrepresented demographic is growing even less participatory in American politics since Trump’s election, perhaps even dangerously so. “2016 was such a disillusioning experience,” one Gen-Z shared with New York magazine. “Going into the election, I was so proud to be in this country at this moment...watching the results come in, it was just disheartening.
My faith in the whole system was crushed pretty quickly. That was the first general election I could vote in, too,”(4). She isn’t alone, either: innumerable young people on both sides of the political spectrum feel let down after the 2016 results. “I feel like the Democratic Party doesn’t really stand for the things I believe in anymore,” stated another Gen-Z ex-voter.“Why should I vote for a party that doesn’t really do anything for me as a voter? Half of the people... like me, don’t really feel represented.”
Others who witnessed the chaos of 2016 have just decided that they no longer want any part in the battle. One such individual is Alexis Pland, a current freshman at Boise State University who chose not to vote in the 2018 midterm elections as a senior in high school, even though she was eligible. “I don’t follow politics, because that’s just too messy,” she says. “I just stayed out of it because it’s easier that way,”(5).
Another aspect of disillusionment comes from a generational rift in ideology. Gen-Z is perhaps the most progressive generation America has yet seen, as a large majority of young people champion causes which have never before received such an enormous amount of support, like LGBTQ+ rights. Gen-Z grew up in an era of significant progress; therefore, “Many of the advances, like gay marriage, from previous decades seem obvious to them,” Business Insider states.
Fantastic though this is, it has led to a unique set of challenges in political agreement between Gen-Z individuals and their parents and grandparents. Many young people feel frustrated and unpatriotic due to parents’ and grandparents’ unwavering views and, often, closedmindedness. Gen-Z seems to have no issue in broadening its perspectives – something that isn’t always so easy for those generations which have clung to the same political ideals for the greater part of a lifetime. It is often difficult for older Americans to keep up with the pace at which the country is running, and while Gen-Z is shouting, “Join the race!” Gen-X and Baby Boomers are sometimes left saying, “Now, just slow down for a second!”
For a largely liberal generation, disappointment arises when family members take opposing sides on important issues. It is hard to feel patriotic when one is not even united with close family members, let alone the nation at large. It figures that a sentiment of disconnection would arise regarding American politics more so now than ever before.
As for the ones who don’t vote, it’s not always apathy or disappointment to blame. Pland, for example, doesn’t necessarily think that her vote is worthless; she does blame a lack of political education, though, for part of her disconnect. When asked, “Do you think your political participation is worth your time and energy?” Pland responded, “Yeah, if I have an opinion on something. I don’t think it is if I’m just going to circle random people.”
She is aware that news is readily available to her on her cell phone – even on social media, yet, she chooses not to engage with it. “I think Twitter is too opinionated on politics,” she explains. “Everyone’s just a loudmouth who shuts everyone else down, so I don’t like to go on.” Frustration and exhaustion, it seems, still play an active role in driving young people out of politics.
The best way to fight Gen-Z disillusionment seems to be to do it from the inside, from one young person to another. One such way is through voter registration efforts, namely on college campuses. The University of California, Santa Barbara, for example, has made enormous strides in involving its students in American government through its Voter Registration Volunteer Coalition, a non-partisan, student-run group which helps to register the UCSB student body to vote and encourages political participation among students.
“UCSB has been one of the most successful schools in the country in terms of number of students registered to vote,” says Natalie Bastawros, a UCSB senior and intern with the Volunteer Coalition (6). “VRVC has been a huge contributing factor to this success. We want to stress the importance of voting to every student, regardless of what political party they adhere to. We believe that the power to vote is such a privilege of democracy, and we want every eligible student to take advantage of that privilege,” Bastawros explains.
Bastawros’ involvement on her own campus shows just how powerful peer involvement can be within the Gen-Z age group. It figures that a generation which was practically raised on the internet would be susceptible to the influence of one another, whether for better or for worse. Luckily for the students at UCSB, Bastawros and her team are using their influence for good.
“We also want to be a resource for any questions that students may have on voting or election politics in general,” she adds. The efforts of the VRVC might not be immediately recognized by the UCSB student body, but the climate of political involvement on campus stands in marked contrast to that of Boise State. Pland states that no direct effort was made to register her to vote upon move-in at the beginning of the year; furthermore, she hasn’t seen a table on campus providing the option since the first week of school.
Meanwhile at UCSB, the VRVC sends out more than 100 volunteers to visit all six freshman residence halls during move-in weekend, where they walk new students through the voter registration process at each respective “floor meeting.” For the duration of the year, the group actively tables on campus several days a week. This alone can explain how, as a junior at UCSB, I have registered to vote three separate times since moving to Santa Barbara – one for each of my three addresses over the years – while Pland has yet to register and shows no real intention of doing so at Boise State.
New York magazine succinctly summarized American voting habits when it stated in 2018 that nearly 60% of people over the age of 30 vote in each election; meanwhile, only half
that number of young people do the same (7). Pland offers an interesting take on this statistic, explaining that voting just isn’t seen as “top priority.” She largely attributes the out-of-touch feeling shared by her friends and classmates to not being taken seriously as a result of age.
That’s not to say that all hope for Gen-Z is lost, though. This generation has something that others before it never did: a social justice mindset. So, while disillusionment is growing at the polls, the opposite effect is happening elsewhere. Some young people are growing more and more frustrated at not being taken seriously, and they’re acting on it. Students everywhere are taking to the streets to protest issues across the political spectrum.
After Trump’s election, women’s marches around the nation saw a huge surge in participation, one which was largely fueled by young people. The high school students affected by the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida organized a national movement which didn’t stop after one march on D.C. Some Gen-Z celebrities like Blackish’s Yara Shahidi created massive social media campaigns to urge young fans to vote. Whether or not they actually vote, Gen-Z individuals tend to care about standing on the right side of history. So, while there aren’t many of them showing up on election day, the ones that do are more than ready to fight for what they believe in, and their peers are often quick to join in.
Truthfully, the Gen-Z error lies in accountability. The desire to see positive change is there, yet the desire to get in the car and drive to the polls is not. However, something about Gen- Z seems to say that low voter turnout just won’t be the last word in its democratic story. While America’s young people surely have a lot left to learn, they’ve already caught on to something that many older Americans have yet to: that we’re all in this together.
Look around and you’ll find that solidarity is at its strongest amongst the youngest of us. Disillusionment at the polls is a major shortcoming in this generation, surely, but a lack of participation amongst young people has existed in every other generation before it. The difference lies in that Gen-Z simply refuses to make the same mistakes that the generations before it did. And while major change would be that much easier to enact if everyone showed up on election day, the reality is that numbers and statistics are only that. Voter data could never reflect that which sets a generation apart from the others, and for Gen-Z, it’s heart.
(1) Premack, Rachel. “Millennials Love Their Brands, Gen Zs Are Terrified of College Debt, and 6 Other Ways Gen Zs and Millennials Are Totally Different.” Business Insider. Insider Inc., July 12, 2018.
(2) Kaid, Linda Lee, Mitchell S. McKinney, and John C. Tedesco. “Political Information Efficacy and Young Voters.” American Behavioral Scientist 50, no. 9 (May 2007). (3) US Census Bureau. “Voting in America: A Look at the 2016 Presidential Election.” The United States Census Bureau, May 10, 2017. (4) Bashein, Rachel, Zak Cheney-Rice, Amelia Schonbek, and Emma Whitford. “12 Young People on Why They Probably Won't Vote.” Intelligencer. Vox Media, October 30, 2018.
(5) Pland, Alexis. “Interview with Alexis Pland.” Interview by Brooke Pland. November 30, 2019.
(6) Bastawros, Natalie. “Interview with Natalie Bastawros.” Interview by Brooke Pland. December 3, 2019.
(7) Bashein, Rachel, Zak Cheney-Rice, Amelia Schonbek, and Emma Whitford. “12 Young People on Why They Probably Won't Vote.” Intelligencer. Vox Media, October 30, 2018.
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