The Berkeley study finds that they are disillusioned because older generations have failed to address these and other problems and seem to simply pass them on to their children.
How will younger voters react?
While they have the numbers to determine the outcome of the election, the new BIFYA study points to other research showing that young conservatives are leaving the Republican Party, just as millions of young liberals and progressives are turning away from the Democratic Party.
Many are so disillusioned that they may withdraw from political engagement altogether, the study finds. That concern is underscored by a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS), which found that many voters – and particularly young voters – may stay home on Election Day because they don’t like the choices on offer.
However, the institute’s research concludes that the generational change could also create the conditions for elected younger politicians to put political struggle aside and instead look for new ideas to solve problems.
Leave politics? Or stand up and change the world?
The Berkeley Institute’s new research consists of two working papers that examine the complex factors that shape political attitudes and behavior, with additional papers planned for publication in the coming months.
In the study “Generational Values and Political Participation in Recent US Elections,” Heys describes Millennials and Generation Z as a group that is “fundamentally” different from previous generations.
They endured the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Great Recession of 2008. They witnessed the election of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, and the election of Donald Trump, whose MAGA allies attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election by force.
These voters are more diverse and tech-savvy and have strongly supported movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. The COVID pandemic has also left a lasting cultural mark on this generation.
From these hard experiences, they have emerged much more liberal than previous generations, writes Heys. Their values are more egalitarian. They are more critical of the shortcomings of American democracy and the unequal distribution of wealth and power.
In fact, she found that the values of young conservatives and liberals were “more homogeneous” than those of older generations.
“In particular, the values of young conservatives are changing. Compared to older conservatives, young conservatives are more egalitarian and fatalistic,” Heys writes. “This changed value structure may be reflected in the attitudes of young conservatives, who hold more liberal views on issues such as racial equality, climate change, universal health care, and abortion.”
Heys cites other studies showing that less than half of young people who are in
conservative households now consider themselves Republican. But, she adds, the trend is similar in the Democratic Party.
In fact, dissatisfaction with the political status quo seems to be widespread – and this is reflected in a feeling of fatalism.
“Young people believe that much of their lives is beyond their control,” she writes. “They are pessimistic about their own future and the fate of the country, and they are pessimistic about the American dream. They believe that, while it was once true, it is no longer attainable for younger generations.”
Clear and worrying implications for future elections
The Institute explores these topics in more depth in “Cultural Evolution: Measuring Differences in Generational Values.”
For years, there has been mounting evidence “that young people from all ideological camps are more tolerant and open-minded towards people of all backgrounds and are more willing to support progressive political issues,” writes Heys.
A key finding is that young people across political lines are more likely to believe “that government should do more to solve society’s problems, even if that means higher taxes for everyone,” the study says. But the government’s failure to address issues that directly affect young people’s lives – such as the climate and the cost of education, housing and health care – feeds widespread fatalism.
