Civic Reawakening

By Jan Goehring

A new poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics shows a civic reawakening by young people 18 - 24 years old. The Biannual Youth Survey on Politics and Public Service has been examining youth civic engagement since 2000.

The data indicates that young people intend to vote in the November election in significant numbers. Nearly two-thirds of eligible young voters plan to participate. This is consistent with a growing trend in youth voting that started in 2004 and continued in 2006. The issues confronting the country, the importance of politics following September 11, 2001 and new technological methods to communicate with young people have helped drive this increased political engagement. The popularity of Facebook and MySpace for social networking has spilled over into the political arena. According to the poll, 23 percent of 18 - 24 year olds have used Facebook for political purposes.

The data also provides an interesting finding about civic education in high school. Only 42 percent of survey participants felt that "my high school education adequately prepared me to be an active participant in the political process."