Washington (AP) -Mairek K Griffiths, a 26-year-old cook in a suburb of Denver, does not believe that he will ever pay us a lot of attention to the policy of US politics, unless there is radical changes.
“If another party were to win, I would be interested in it,” said Griffiths, who voted for the Democrat Kamala Harris last year, but how many of his age does not consider the coordination to be so valuable.
“I can’t say that the vote is important either way,” said Griffiths. “It is only the least bad option. I remember my whole life – both sides are bad, but this page is less bad.”
Young people like Griffiths are less connected to US politics than older Americans and say less likely that the vote is significant. Young people – even those who are closely followed by politics – are less likely that topics such as the economy, government spending and health care are “extremely important” than comparable older adults for them.
The results indicate a broad feeling of disillusionment among younger people about the political system of the country – even if they still hand in a ballot like Griffiths. Alberto Medina, who heads the Center for Information and Research on Civic Engagement at Tufts University, examined youth and politics, found that the turnout in adolescent people in the 2020 elections reached record levels and was high last year.
“There is a feeling that democracy does not work for young people. There is belief that democracy can even improve its life,” said Medina. “At the same time, we lived in a high youth vote era.”
Triggering political parties and politics
In a further sign of their general estrangement from politics, the survey shows adolescent adults with greater probability that the labels of the political party will be leaning. About a third of adults under the age of 30 identify as political independent who neither tend to a enormous political party, compared to 17% of the Americans aged 60 or older.
The survey also shows that adolescent people follow politics far less than older adults.
Only about 2 out of 10 of adults under the age of 30 say that they follow US politics “extreme” or “very” exactly compared to about a third of the Americans as a whole. This is even higher in adults from the age of 60 or older – 45% of this group say that they are at least very precisely followed by US policy.
The elimination is higher for teenagers, since an AP-NORC survey from May 44% of adolescent people between the ages of 13 and 17 corresponds to “not very precisely” or “not exactly” at all.
In the meantime, about two thirds of adults under the age of 30 say “extreme” or “very” significant, compared to almost 9 out of 10 over 45 years, who say that it is at least “very” significant.
Some of these habits could change if people get older. Younger people are traditionally less likely than older people, and the participation of voters tends to boost with age. It is possible that commitment to politics can follow a similar pattern.
Brittany Diaz, 28, follows politics for an unusual reason: her eldest son, who is 7 years elderly, is obsessed with the news and watches them every night. Diaz, a republican who in a suburb in Albuquerque, New Mexico, lives, admits that she is unusual in her age group because she decided to pay attention to politics when she had her first child at the age of 20.
“Now that I have children, I think:” I have to take care of it, “she said.
Diaz differs from politics and differs from many other women under the age of 30.
Women in their age group are less common than adolescent men that they follow the US policy, according to the survey. About a quarter of men under the age of 30 say that they follow politics “extreme” or “very” exactly compared to 16% of women in the same age group. And about 4 out of 10 adolescent women say that they follow the US policy “not very precisely” or “not exactly” compared to a quarter of adolescent men.
Lower investments in significant problems
In some questions such as the economy and health care, the gap between the youngest and oldest Americans is not gigantic. About 8 out of 10 Americans under the age of 30 say that the economy is “extreme” or “very” significant to them personally, compared to about 9 out of 10 Americans from the age of 60 or older.
But older adults are much likely to say that topics that are the focus of President Donald Trump in the first six months of the second term – including immigration and government spending – are “extremely” or “very” significant for them compared to Americans under the age of 30.
This even applies to topics such as the situation in the Middle East, which has become a rally scream since the outbreak of the Israel Hamas War. Only about 4 out of 10 adults under the age of 30 say that this is very significant to them personally, compared to about 6 out of 10 Americans from the age of 60 or older.
For some, this lack of interest could be related to the feeling that the political system does not respond to their needs.
At 18, Blake Marlar is starting to pay attention to politics. As Trump’s tax reduction and expenditure law, the Congress, which was controlled by Republicans, sent the prospective geology major of the University of Nebraska an email to the two senators of his state, both republicans who leaned against their Medicaid cuts and an boost in immigration authorities.
“They didn’t seem to take me seriously,” said Marlar. “Although I realize that they have to represent the entire state and the entire state does not agree with me, it could have been a different experience.”
But he is decided not to give up politics: “in the future,” he said, “I will do and coordinate my part.”
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Riccardi reported from Denver.
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,437 adults was carried out from July 10th to 14th using a sample from the probability base of NORC, which is designed as representative of the US population. The sales edge for adults in total is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
