Nearly half of today’s young voters under thirty—known as the Millennial Generation—identify themselves as Democrats, and they voted overwhelmingly Democratic in the 2006 election. Since youthful voting habits are a strong indicator of future party loyalty, we may be seeing the beginnings of a progressive resurgence in American politics.
In combination with their progressive ideals, the millennials are both civic-minded and entrepreneurial, having come of age in the safety of a post-Cold War world marked by an unprecedented revolution in technology. Using their unsurpassed social and technological skills, they have fostered a community spirit that is beginning to reverse the decades-long decline in social capital that was famously recorded by Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone.
Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority examines how today’s young people are combining technology with a vigorous social spirit to revive progressive politics. In addition to recounting the history of youth politics since its emergence in the 1972 election, as well as showing where the movement still lags behind its more organized conservative counterpart, the book features interviews with many of the major figures in the youth political movement, and identifies strategies that the Democratic Party can use to capitalize on its new advantages with young voters. Youth to Power is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the political and cultural future of America.
Michael Connery is a co-founder of Music for America, a youth Get Out The Vote organization that worked with artists and music communities in the 2004 and 2006 elections. He is a weekend writer on the popular political blog MyDD and blogs full-time about progressive youth organizing at Future Majority ( www.futuremajority.com).