Youth participation in socio-political life of the U.S. in 2020

Abstract

The object of the research is the participation of American youth in socio-political life of the country in 2020. The authors consider the main prerequisites and processes of youth participation in protests. The article contains the review and analysis of the most significant reasons of youth participation in protests. The authors study the growth of protest sentiment in the U.S. as a result of the recent escalation of socio-political and socio-cultural conflicts strengthened by the range of political, ethnic, and race factors and the COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention is given to the analysis of the role and importance of youth participation in the presidential election campaign in 2020, and the peculiarities of the influence of social media on the involvement of youth into the election process and protest movement. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that the role of youth is socio-political life in the U.S. in the context of the escalation of socio-political and socio-cultural processes, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, hasn’t been studied sufficiently enough in Russian academic discourse. The main conclusion of the research is as follows: the growth of protest sentiment in the U.S. is the result of the recent escalation of socio-political and socio-cultural conflicts aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is obvious that the role of youth in the modern political life in the U.S. will keep steadily growing.