Making Young Voters

by John B. Holbein

In 2016, 90% of young Americans reported an interest in politics. 80% intended to vote. Yet only 43% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 ended up actually casting a ballot. Making Young Voters investigates what lies at the core of this gap. The authors' in-depth, interdisciplinary approach reveals that political apathy is not the reason for low levels of youth turnout. Rather, young people too often fail to follow through on their political interests and intentions. Those with 'noncognitive' skills related to self-regulation are more likely to overcome internal and external barriers to participation. This book combines theory from psychology, economics, child development, and more to explore possible solutions rooted in civic education and electoral reform. This potentially paradigm-shifting contribution to the literature of American politics serves to influence not only our understanding of voter turnout, but also the fundamental connections between the education system, electoral institutions, and individual civic behavior in a democracy. How young people vote affects not only each individual future, but that of the United States, and of us all.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

284 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2020

Reviews

[Maggie Zarish-Yasunas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my senior thesis and it was incredibly insightful. For someone who really cares about young people voting, it was so interesting learning about the psychological component to voter turnout. I learned a ton about non cognitive skills and how factors such as grit, motivation, determination, and work ethic is what actually leads youth people to the polls and follow through on voting in all elections. This was so counterintuitive to me and gave me a new perspective.

This was a very complex book full of research. It was very hard to read and took me a little bit to fully understand the research methods and content. The authors are insanely smart and they had a great Appendix to get further insight into where they collected their data (which I will be using for my thesis!) as well as their other research methods.

[Emmaline · Rating 4 out of 5]

We had to read several chapters of this for one of my classes. It was really tough read because of the scholarly nature but overall I'm glad I read it. Interesting to me because I want to potentially become a policymaker one day so it's good to stay informed on what does (and doesn't) work in terms of what educational policies can help increase youth voter turnout. Interesting from a sociological point of view as well. Really heavily researched information, I trusted the source.