The Youth Vote and Change in American Politics

Abstract

The 18-to-21-year-old voters will have a sub stantial and fluctuating partisan impact at the polls, counter to the popular expectations that their voting rates will be minimal and their partisanship in the mold of their parents. This argument is based on the behavior and beliefs of college- educated youth, who currently constitute a considerable and growing minority of this recently enfranchised group. Evi dence of high voting participation by the current crop of recent college graduates as well as the strong independent but liberal identification on the part of contemporary college students point to sources of flexibility and change in Amer ican politics. It is not altogether clear whether the liberal and independent tendencies of college youth will dissipate with the traditional effects of aging or whether the outlook of this age group will maintain itself through time as did the Depression generation. In either case, the argument and evidence point to the possible emergence of an independent political majority in the American electorate in the near future.