Young Voter Strategies
Encyclopedia
Young Voter Strategies is a research organization in The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University. It analyzes youth voting in the United States
and provides prescriptive information to increase turnout
from that demographic. It refers to this target demographic with the common moniker Generation Y
. Their stated goal is to make the targeting of young voters a more permanent part of electoral strategies. The organization gets significant funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts
.
The organization produced lots of research and papers during the 2006 election
season. As early as 2005, it found that members of Generation Y have more trust in government and greater civic pride than their older siblings. It also found that young voters and politicians are caught in a "mutual cycle of neglect" where neither group makes efforts to woo the other. In some cases, political language excludes youth, like referring to young members of the military as "'sons and daughters'", instead of "'peers and friends'". Though youth are generally apathetic about politics, YVS has found that several political issues are important to them, namely the Iraq War, the economy and the price of fuel, and, inevitably, the cost of higher education.
The organization reckons that it is easy to change apathetic youth into consistent voters by making connections between youth interests and political participation and using their increased (compared to previous generations) volunteer ethic and knowledge about the world, and simply asking them to vote. Their research confirms at least some of the claims. YVS found that areas targeted by student PIRGs and other groups showed dramatic increases in turnout between the 2002 and 2006 midterm elections. Peer-to-peer efforts were more effective than phone calls or mailings. The demographic trended Democratic, with YVS polling indicating that half voted for that party and 35% for Republicans, similar to CNN
's figure of 60% of the youth vote going to Democrats in 2006.
In 2007, Young Voter Strategies combined operations with Rock the Vote
and has since launched a campaign to register two million young voters in 2008.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and provides prescriptive information to increase turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
from that demographic. It refers to this target demographic with the common moniker Generation Y
Generation Y
Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation , Generation Next, Net Generation, or Echo Boomers, describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, and commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere...
. Their stated goal is to make the targeting of young voters a more permanent part of electoral strategies. The organization gets significant funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization , founded in 1948. With over US$5 billion in assets, its current mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and stimulating civic life."-History:The Trusts, a single...
.
The organization produced lots of research and papers during the 2006 election
United States general elections, 2006
The 2006 United States midterm elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. All United States House of Representatives seats and one third of the United States Senate seats were contested in this election, as well as 36 state governorships, many state legislatures, four territorial...
season. As early as 2005, it found that members of Generation Y have more trust in government and greater civic pride than their older siblings. It also found that young voters and politicians are caught in a "mutual cycle of neglect" where neither group makes efforts to woo the other. In some cases, political language excludes youth, like referring to young members of the military as "'sons and daughters'", instead of "'peers and friends'". Though youth are generally apathetic about politics, YVS has found that several political issues are important to them, namely the Iraq War, the economy and the price of fuel, and, inevitably, the cost of higher education.
The organization reckons that it is easy to change apathetic youth into consistent voters by making connections between youth interests and political participation and using their increased (compared to previous generations) volunteer ethic and knowledge about the world, and simply asking them to vote. Their research confirms at least some of the claims. YVS found that areas targeted by student PIRGs and other groups showed dramatic increases in turnout between the 2002 and 2006 midterm elections. Peer-to-peer efforts were more effective than phone calls or mailings. The demographic trended Democratic, with YVS polling indicating that half voted for that party and 35% for Republicans, similar to CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's figure of 60% of the youth vote going to Democrats in 2006.
In 2007, Young Voter Strategies combined operations with Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote is a non-profit organization in the United States of America whose mission is to engage and build the political power of young people....
and has since launched a campaign to register two million young voters in 2008.