(OSV News) — A recent report from Springtide Research Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, found that a growing share of young people do not identify with a political party, defying traditional political categories.
In the group’s recent report, “Cultivating Care: How & Why Young People Participate in Civic Life,” researchers found that more than half of Gen Z and Gen Alpha participants, ages 13 to 25, do not identify with either one of the two major political parties in favor of issue-specific engagement over broad partisan affiliation.
Nabil Tueme, senior research associate at Springtide Research Institute, told OSV News, “Teens and young adults are in a formative stage of political learning.”
“They’re picking up political cues from their parents, friends, and social contexts,” Tueme said. “They have unprecedented access to political information and events through their smartphones and social media. Thus, many of them have formed strong opinions on the two major political parties in this country. In general, young people told us that they dislike the political party system as a whole and see political parties as inauthentic — saying one thing, but doing the opposite.”
The report found an equal percentage of participants ages 13 to 25 identify as Republican or Democrat — 23%; more than half said they did not identify with a major political party at all.
“Whether these partisan attitudes will persist remains to be seen,” Tueme added. “Research on the stability of these attitudes is mixed. Some studies show that early political experiences can have far-reaching consequences on partisanship across the lifespan, while others find that national moods, mass media effects, and key political events mediate political identification.”
However, despite eschewing traditional political parties, researchers said, participants held strong views about social issues such as education, the economy, abortion and climate change.
Young people choosing not to engage “doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of care,” Tueme said.
“Just 6% of young people report not caring about any political issues,” Tueme said. “Many young people see their disengagement as a form of exit-based empowerment; a deliberate withdrawal from a world or a system that doesn’t seem to care the way that they do.”
Respondents reported low levels of trust in political institutions, the report said, with about a third of young people expressing distrust of the office of the U.S. presidency. A quarter reported distrust of Congress, the Supreme Court and the election system.
The report also found that while few participants in that age group said that religion should have “a lot of influence” on politics, respondents were much more likely to report that their religion or spirituality shapes their politics rather than vice versa.
A separate report from the Public Religion Research Institute earlier this year also found more than half of Gen Z respondents — 51% — did not identify with either major political party.
Gen Z is generally defined as people born between 1997 and 2012. Gen Alpha is a term used to describe the generation of people born (or who will be born) between 2010 and 2025.
By Kate Scanlon | OSV News
News & Commentary
Study shows more than half of young Americans don’t identify with a major political party
(OSV News) — A recent report from Springtide Research Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, found that a growing share of young people do not identify with a political party, defying traditional political categories.
In the group’s recent report, “Cultivating Care: How & Why Young People Participate in Civic Life,” researchers found that more than half of Gen Z and Gen Alpha participants, ages 13 to 25, do not identify with either one of the two major political parties in favor of issue-specific engagement over broad partisan affiliation.
Nabil Tueme, senior research associate at Springtide Research Institute, told OSV News, “Teens and young adults are in a formative stage of political learning.”
“They’re picking up political cues from their parents, friends, and social contexts,” Tueme said. “They have unprecedented access to political information and events through their smartphones and social media. Thus, many of them have formed strong opinions on the two major political parties in this country. In general, young people told us that they dislike the political party system as a whole and see political parties as inauthentic — saying one thing, but doing the opposite.”
The report found an equal percentage of participants ages 13 to 25 identify as Republican or Democrat — 23%; more than half said they did not identify with a major political party at all.
“Whether these partisan attitudes will persist remains to be seen,” Tueme added. “Research on the stability of these attitudes is mixed. Some studies show that early political experiences can have far-reaching consequences on partisanship across the lifespan, while others find that national moods, mass media effects, and key political events mediate political identification.”
However, despite eschewing traditional political parties, researchers said, participants held strong views about social issues such as education, the economy, abortion and climate change.
Young people choosing not to engage “doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of care,” Tueme said.
“Just 6% of young people report not caring about any political issues,” Tueme said. “Many young people see their disengagement as a form of exit-based empowerment; a deliberate withdrawal from a world or a system that doesn’t seem to care the way that they do.”
Respondents reported low levels of trust in political institutions, the report said, with about a third of young people expressing distrust of the office of the U.S. presidency. A quarter reported distrust of Congress, the Supreme Court and the election system.
The report also found that while few participants in that age group said that religion should have “a lot of influence” on politics, respondents were much more likely to report that their religion or spirituality shapes their politics rather than vice versa.
A separate report from the Public Religion Research Institute earlier this year also found more than half of Gen Z respondents — 51% — did not identify with either major political party.
Gen Z is generally defined as people born between 1997 and 2012. Gen Alpha is a term used to describe the generation of people born (or who will be born) between 2010 and 2025.
By Kate Scanlon | OSV News