Update on CIRCLE Website
In the next few days CIRCLE will relaunch its website, www.civicyouth.org. Check out the site’s new features such as an interactive map, new search toolbar, and social media sharing toolbar.
The “Forgotten Half” Education Disparities in Youth Voter Turnout
While young Americans with college experience continue to be more likely to vote than those who don’t attend college, there are effective strategies and initiatives to help bridge this gap, according to a new CIRCLE Fact Sheet. Many more young Americans are going to college, but 22 million (nearly half) of 18-to-29 year-olds are not enrolled in higher education programs. Since 2000, voter turnout among college-educated youth has increased by 12 percentage points and non-college youth turnout has increased by nine percentage points. In 2008, the turnout rate of college-educated 18-to-29 year-olds was 62 percent – 26 percentage points higher than the rate of non-college youth. Midterm turnout disparities are equally drastic: in 2006 there was a 17 percentage point gap between the two groups.
Research shows there are strategies that may help to overcome these turnout disparities. In recent elections some states have implemented election reform laws, including Election Day registration, mail-in ballots, early voting, absentee voting laws and extended poll hours. In fact, in 2008 among 18- to 29-year-old citizens who were in the labor force, implementation of longer polling hours was associated with a seven percentage point increase in the voting rate for full-time (35 or more hours per week) workers and a five percentage point increase for part-time workers.
This fact sheet was presented at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas. To learn more, follow these links:
To download the conference presentation, click here
To download the fact sheet, click here
Civility in Politics: Youth Perspective
In a recent report entitled, “Nastiness, Name-calling & Negativity: The Allegheny College Survey of Civility and Compromise in American Politics,” the authors found that average citizens are upset about incivility, although they differ by ideology, gender, and media use. “CIRCLE Working Paper #71″ focuses on the newest generation of voters, finding that they differ from their older counterparts, being less likely to believe that civility is possible, less ashamed about recent incivility, but more supportive of compromise and more optimistic about higher education’s role in promoting civility. Findings suggest a nearly universal recognition of the problem and a growing concern about the implications of an uncivil body politic. Further, the findings cast blame at a number of institutions, but also give reasons for optimism.
To download CIRCLE Working Paper #71 “Youth Attitudes toward Civility in Politics” click here
Young Voters and the Midterm Elections
Interested in facts about young voters in the midterm elections? CIRCLE has a variety of fact sheets about young voters in past midterm elections. Below is a list of fact sheets. For more information, click here.
“Youth Voter Turnout Increases in 2006″ shows that the voter turnout rate among 18-to-29-year-olds increased three percentage points between 2002 and 2006 from 22 percent to 25 percent, breaking
a trend in declining electoral participation in midterm elections among young people since 1982. The fact sheet is based on data from the 1978-2006 Census Current Population Survey (CPS), November (Voting) Supplement.
“Young Voters in the 2006 Elections” includes information about young voters’ political preferences and the issues that concerned them in the 2006 election. This fact sheet is based on data from the 2006 National Election Pool’s National Exit Poll.
“Quick Facts About Young Voters by State: The Midterm Election Year 2006″ Using data from the 2006 Census CPS, November Supplement, these facts sheets examine voter turnout rates from 1978-2006, turnout rates by subgroup, and partisanship (where available from the National Election Pool, Exit Poll surveys) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“Quick Facts About Young Voters by Metropolitan Area: The Midterm Election Year 2006″ These fact sheets analyze voter turnout rates by metropolitan area.
“Young Urban Voters in the Midterm Election Year 2006″ presents youth voter turnout data for the 2006 midterm elections by urban, suburban, and rural areas as well as information for select metropolitan areas.
Tisch College’s CIRCLE (The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) is the leading source of authoritative research on civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25.
Originally published September 2010
