Is Age Just a Number: Where Is Change Coming From?

In Chapter 5, the book explained the political beliefs of various different demographics. Specifically, the book mentioned the differences in political beliefs and voting habits between the young and the old. Growing up in the aftermath of 9/11 and the economic insecurity of the financial crisis of 2008 has led many young voters to favor more liberal economic and social policies. As more and more of these young people reach the age of 18, their influence in politics will continue to grow. For simplicity, young voters will be referred to as Millennials who were born between the years of 1980 and 2000. Older voters will be referred to as Baby Boomers who were born between the years of 1945 and 1964. In total, there are around 92 million Millennials who now outnumber Baby Boomers by 15 million. In the 2016 election, 24 million Millennials turned out to vote, and although a large number of Millennials were not yet old enough to vote, this turnout was low compared to Baby Boomers. Even despite the low turnout, Millennials voted overwhelming for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The support of Millennials even allowed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, a non-mainstream self-proclaimed democratic socialist, to seriously challenge Clinton in the primaries. In the next few years, even as early as the 2018 midterm elections, as more Millennials are eligible to vote, it will be interesting to see how and in what ways they affect the United States. Their belief in liberal policies and their democratic affiliation might seriously affect the results of the 2018 midterms. Of the 33 Senate seats up for election, 23 are currently held by Democrats. In order to chip away at the Republican majority in Congress, Democrats are relying on the votes of Millennials to hold these seats and win more.

Recently, young people have become increasingly active politically. In the wake of the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, a group of student survivors decided to organize themselves with the intent of sparking gun control reforms as well as holding politicians responsible for their inaction. These teenagers, some who are too young to even vote, have rallied behind the slogan “Never Again,” and have planned a march on Washington that they are calling “The March for Our Lives.” As these brave teenagers fight for stricter gun control and political accountability, they are just one example of young people beginning to actively advocate for their political beliefs. The future of the country and its policies will increasingly be affected by Millennials as the gap between them and other generations continue to grow. Despite this continued and expected influx of youth in American political life, the current Congress is one of the oldest it has ever been. The average age in the Senate is 63 while the average age of House of Representatives is 59. In the 2016 election, Donald Trump, at the age of 71, became the oldest elected president. How will this disconnect between the population and the elected officials begin to change with the emergence of Millennials as a political force? Is democracy working when it no longer takes just a mass shooting to spark policy change? Is democracy working when change is only coming from high school students who yet to even vote in an election?

Madeleine Stone says:

February 27, 2018 at 1:03 pm

Hi Gwynna,

Thank you for bringing up this issue. It is one that I haven’t really thought about and I really appreciate your discussion on this topic. I can really relate to the fact that our generation is one that has gone through extremely traumatic experiences such as 9/11 along with economic tragedies such as the Great Recession in 2008/2009. Without even realizing it I think both of these events we have lived through has definitely impacted the way we view economic and social policies. As our generation gets older and we begin to vote, we are having an increasingly important impact on elections and reforms. It also in very interesting to see how the millennial generation out numbers the baby boomer generation by 15 million people. Something you wouldn’t expect just by the nickname Baby Boomer generation, you would think they have the highest population. As time progresses it will be captivating to keep track of how the millennial continue to vote, specifically in the 2018 primaries like you mentioned. I think your point about Congress being one of the oldest its ever been is also important to note. This is an interesting fact and one personally I did not know. I think I can make the statement that I’m sure not many millennials realize this either and it would be one that might influence their voting. As we begin to see Millennials taking office I think there will be a much stronger effort to enact reform in our social economy. Thanks again for your discussion!