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Editor's Note: Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a visiting professor at the American Enterprise Institute. Jeremi Suri is Mack Brown's Distinguished President for Leadership in Global Affairs and Professor of Public Relations and History at the University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. Read more opinion at CNNe.com/opinion
(CNN) - With covid-19 isolating youth from their peers around the world, many observers worry about the emergence of a "lost generation." The list of America's top presidential candidates, dominated by baby boomers aging in 2020, offers little evidence that young voices present themselves as a viable political force.
While there are many reasons to worry about the mental health and social development of youth in the shadow of Covid, we see reasons for optimism in its new outbreak of coherent political activism, partially facilitated by the pandemic. College students and recent graduates are well placed to organize, connect, and build a new consensus on political reforms. American youth, in particular, are showing commitment to a pragmatic center of political priorities: affordable health care for all, environmental sustainability, international cooperation, civil rights, and economic justice. Despite their current isolation, most young Americans embrace empathetic leadership and dedicate themselves to serving their communities.
At this time, conditions are ripe for a youth-led political movement in the United States and other countries, demanding reforms consistent with its values. And as societies try to get out of the covid-19 lockdown, young voices will have a chance to grow in influence. In the past few days, according to Pew, millennials outnumbered baby boomers as America's largest generation, and Generation Z will comprise 10% of the eligible voting electorate for the 2020 US election. Covid-19 could be the shock. exogenous to our socio-political system that will realign the nation's priorities and break the polarization and anger that dominate our political lives.
Many experts question whether young people in the United States will go out to vote, when traditionally their participation numbers have been lower than those of the older cohorts. In the recent Democratic primaries, his turnout was disappointing, especially for candidates like Senator Bernie Sanders, who trusted the enthusiasm of young voters. If young people do not vote in greater numbers, their activism, however lively or inspiring, has little hope of influencing politics.
But these pessimistic judgments are also misleading. Youth participation in recent elections shows a clear pattern of increase during the 2020 primary season. Facebook and other social media platforms widely share information with young voters about why they should vote and how they can register, despite efforts from some states to suppress their votes. Voting by mail will also facilitate youth participation, as illustrated by the Wisconsin April 7 elections. Most significantly, the covid-19 crisis has provided a shared imperative for youth to elect representatives who address their common educational, health, and work needs. Arguably, young voters have been more motivated than ever since the Vietnam War.
By helping younger Americans find their voice and show them how to matter, political allegiances can be forged for effective governance. The question now is whether either side can muster the leadership, the discipline, and the vision to take advantage of this openness and work with this emerging generation. Due to their numbers and their vital role in rebuilding post-pandemic societies, young men and women are perfectly prepared to lead the charge for various reasons.
First, young people have a history of igniting political change in times of crisis. The 1960s is the best recent example, when young men and women organized around universities to march for civil rights, withdraw from the war in Vietnam, and reform communist tyrannies around the world. They brought the hypocrisies of their elders into a bright light and transformed all major societies in the years after 1968.
Second, although the hearts and minds of many college students today are open, pragmatic, and moderate, they have also felt ignored for a long time. That must change in the covid era. Research from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) consistently shows that the majority of Generation Z, for example, feel they have limited efficacy compared to previous generations; More than their older counterparts, Generation Z tends to feel that holding elections does not make the government pay attention to what people think. From this point of view, the lack of enthusiasm for the 2020 campus elections makes some sense.
However, AEI research also shows that the often claimed ideological leftism of Americans ages 18 to 22 is overblown, and this is the case for those in and out of college. Far more members of Generation Z than the stereotype might suggest identify themselves as more than "liberal": moderates, conservatives, and even those who have not thought much about politics are well represented.
These findings make it quite clear that there is no left monoculture among young citizens; Significant numbers are clustered in the middle, are politically open and quite disconnected, and are not at the extremes at all. A new consensus is possible, especially around leaders who can reach and respond to the pragmatic political values of Generation Z.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, technology enables young citizens to connect and organize more quickly and cheaply than ever before. With current school and business closings, Millennials and Generation Z are experiencing an unusual but opportune time to use this technology for their purposes. They focus on connecting with each other and creating new economic and social opportunities.
Take two political careers that are on the minds of our students. Donald Trump's 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton for the White House and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's 2018 primary victory over Joseph Crowley, an influential 10-term incumbent in New York's 14th congressional district and former Speaker of the Democratic House of the camera. In both cases, the victorious candidates relied heavily on social media, authentic grassroots organizing and mobilization, and working outside the traditional power bases of their parties. Trump's supporters were older, on average, than Ocasio-Cortez's, but both exploited new technologies and motivations for political participation.
The campaign's spending reflected the Ocasio-Cortez mantra: “You really can't make a lot of money with more money. You have to beat them with a totally different game. " In the Ocasio-Cortez case, Crowley spent 18 times more than Cortez ($ 1.5 million to $ 83,000). In the case of Clinton and Trump, Secretary Clinton had a poor base game and her campaign spent significant sums on negative television advertising.
Politics by other means, emphasizing new technology and new voters, has become the new normal. The traditional tactics of large sums of money in the late 20th century, especially central-time advertising, telephone banking, and centrally controlled postal mail, are less relevant.
This new campaign context opens up crucial space for young voters, who are smart enough to look beyond Twitter and its extreme echo chamber. Young Americans are quite comfortable connecting on multiple platforms, despite the superficial narratives that they are afraid of privacy and talking on the phone. In fact, younger Americans are the most forthcoming in a variety of media. And, unlike television and print media, which are very expensive and territorially limited, the technologies used by young citizens are inexpensive and widely accessible. Undoubtedly, young Americans are already talking and listening more.
Steven Olikara has been organizing youth for more than a decade as the founder of the Millennium Action Project in Washington DC. He told us: “Crises like covid-19 require cooperative leadership that inspires hope in our future. Millennium leaders are answering that call, using technology to put thousands of college courses online and turning to social media to educate citizens on how to vote safely in a pandemic. "
Olikara recounted how last week a group of young elected leaders in Iowa joined together across party lines to launch a series of online videos via social media, aiming to motivate other millennials to vote and participate. in other ways. It is just one of the many examples of young people across the country who defend our democracy and reach out to their peers.
For young men and women, in particular, covid-19 has exposed the incompetence and isolation of the Trump administration. The damage and consequences of this pandemic will be felt throughout the nation, regardless of the party. The upcoming elections and their consequences could resemble those of 1932, a realigning change. Past crises have catalyzed significant political change, and there are strong reasons to expect covid-19 to have a similar transformative effect. This is not a good time to be a Republican incumbent.
The most important political fact of our time is that the young citizens of our nation are home more than ever in the last century. They are widely connected to each other and seek to make their voices heard. Young Americans have brought about real change before, and they are largely empathetic and pragmatic. Despite the restrictions of physical distance, they have the tools and the motivation to connect, organize and become true agents of change. The youth earthquake is just beginning.
coronavirus