Youth vote

Youth vote

The youth vote is a political term used primarily in the United States to describe 18 to 25-year-olds and their voting habits.

The term "Youth Vote" goes back to the 1930s, when low-income rural and urban young people in the United States were first mobilized to vote in blocs by the youth activism movement.fact|date=September 2008 Their issues were largely related to joblessness, homelessness, education, and guaranteed income.fact|date=September 2008

While youth were alternately activated and suppressedfact|date=September 2008 in their voting habits through the 1950s, the early 1960s saw a renewed interest in encouraging young peoples' progressive voting habits. When Students for a Democratic Society put out a global call to action for youth via the Port Huron Statement, millions of youth around the world reacted.fact|date=September 2008 A variety of youth voting efforts sprung up across Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. The United States experienced a massive upsurge in youth civic action of all sorts, with a particular emphasis on the youth vote.fact|date=September 2008 A variety of organizations, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, and Youth Liberation of Ann Arbor each worked to encourage young people to vote together and for common issues.

The number of young voters in the 2008 presidential election has tripled, even quadrupled in some states compared to the 2004 elections. [Harris, Chris. "Super Tuesday Youth Voter Turnout Triples, Quadruples in Some States." MTV.com. retrieved 6 Feb 2008. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1581027/20080206/ld_0.jhtml] In his "Time Magazine" article "why Young Voters Care Again" David Von Drehle reports that "Obama drew more under-30 voters than all Republican candidates combined in South Carolina." [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008:34-48.] Therefore, not only are more young voters turning out to vote, but many of them are voting for Obama. [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008. 34-48]

New technology, the internet especially is making it easier for candidates to reach the youth and, in turn, more young people are voting. [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008:34-48] Websites such as Facebook and Youtube not only allow students who don't subscribe to newspapers or watch the evening news stay on top of the polls, but also allows them to share their excitement over the polls and candidates. [Von Drehle, David. "Why Young Voters Care Again." Time Magazine. Feb 2008:34-48]

Today, a number of organizations proclaim their commitment to garnering the youth voice. They include Rock the Vote, League of Young Voters, 18 in '08, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Declare Yourself, Young Voter PAC, WWE Smackdown Your Vote and YouthVote USA.

A 2008 poll has concluded a possible dramatic drop by young voters in the 2008 Canadian election. The poll found that only about 50% of respondents would vote. This was down from the 2006 Canadian election in which 57% of youths voted. [cite news|title=Dramatic drop in youth voting, institute warns|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080929/election2008_youthvote_081001/20081001?s_name=election2008|accessdate=2008-10-01|publisher=CTV News]

ee also

*Youth politics
*Youth suffrage
*Apathy is Boring A Canadian non-profit and non-partisan organization that promotes youth involvement in politics

Notes

References

External links

* [http://www.civicyouth.org Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)] at the University of Maryland, College Park
* [http://www.18in08.com 18 in '08]
* [http://www.youngvoterpac.org Young Voter PAC]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Youth suffrage — Youth suffrage, or children s suffrage, is the right to vote for young people and forms part of the broader youth rights movement. Until recently Iran had a voting age of 15; Austria, Brazil, Cuba and Nicaragua have a voting age of 16; and… …   Wikipedia

  • Youth politics — is a category of issues which distinctly involve, affect or otherwise impact youth.HistoryUSAWith roots in the early youth activism of the Newsboys and Mother Jones child labor protests at the turn of the 20th century, youth politics were first… …   Wikipedia

  • Youth engagement — is the sentiment young people feel towards a particular person, activity, place or outcome. It has been a focus of youth development, public policy and social change movements for at least forty years. [Pittman, K. (n.d.)… …   Wikipedia

  • vote mob — n. A crowd, organized via social networks, that gathers to encourage young people to vote in an upcoming election. v. vote mobbing pp. Example Citations: A new mob is arising in Canada, and this one should be heartily encouraged. It s the vote… …   New words

  • Youth Party of Slovenia — The Youth Party of Slovenia ( Stranka mladih Slovenije ) is a political party in Slovenia. It is led by Darko Krajnc.At the last legislative elections, 3 October 2004, the party won 2.1% of the popular vote and no seats. At the 2000 elections,… …   Wikipedia

  • Youth Parliament of Canada — The Youth Parliament of Canada/Parlement jeunesse du Canada ( YPJ Canada ) was a youth model parliament that met bi annually, and later annually, in the 1980s. The delegates to YPJ Canada were drawn mostly from the eight provincial youth… …   Wikipedia

  • Youth Parliament of Manitoba — Established in 1922, Youth Parliament of Manitoba (YPM) is a non partisan, non denominational, non profit organization that educates youth in effective public speaking and the parliamentary process. It is open to all youth in the Canadian… …   Wikipedia

  • Youth Activism Project — The Youth Activism Project, founded in 1992, is an international non partisan organization designed to encourage young people to speak up and pursue lasting solutions to problems they care deeply about. Formerly called Activism 2000 Project, the… …   Wikipedia

  • vote mob — noun A gathering of usually young people assembled for the purpose of voting in an election or encouraging youth participation in it and often organized through online social media The organizers claim these fun, upbeat gatherings are non… …   Wiktionary

  • Rock the Vote — Infobox Non profit Non profit name = Rock the Vote Non profit founded date = 1990, Los Angeles, California, United States location = Washington, DC, United States area served = United States focus = Youth Voting, Voter Registration method =… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”