Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo The 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey A Detailed Look at How Youth Participate in Politics and Communities Mark Hugo Lopez Karlo Barrios Marcelo Washington, D.C. October 3, 2006

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Project Goal To measure civic engagement of young people ages 15 to 25 and adults To measure the attitudes of young people towards civic engagement, government, politics and elections, and tolerance

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Presentation Outline A.Survey Background B.19 Core Indicators of Engagement C.Major Findings –Race and Ethnicity –Confidence in Government –Political Knowledge –Tolerance –Partisanship –Generation Uniqueness

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo The 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey Conducted from April 27 to June 11 1,700 Young People ages 15 to Adults 26 and older Over-samples of young Latinos, African- Americans, and Asian-Americans Margin of error ±2.6 percentage points Replication of 2002 CPHS by Keeter et. al.

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo 19 Core Indicators of Engagement Civic Measures –Community problem solving –Regular Volunteering –Active Group Membership –Participation in fundraising run/walk/ride –Other fundraising Electoral Measures –Regular Voting –Persuading Others –Displaying buttons, signs, stickers –Campaign Contributions –Volunteering for a candidate or political organization

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo 19 Core Indicators of Engagement (contd) Indicators of Political Voice –Contacting Officials –Contacting the Print Media –Contacting the Broadcast Media –Protesting –Signed petitions –Signed Written petitions –Boycotting –Buycotting –Canvassing

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo There is Broad Engagement… Engagement among young people –26% say they vote regularly –35% say they tried to persuade others –36% say they volunteered –30% boycotted –11% have protested in last year –On average 3.7 activities in past year –Over 80% have engaged in at least one activity

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Five Most Common Activities

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Five Most Common Activities

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Yet some are disengaged 58% have done 1 or fewer electoral or civic activities in past year 17% have done none of 19 activities

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo A Typology of Engagement Among 15 to 25s Electoral Activities 0 or 12 or more Civic Activities 0 or 1 58%17% 2 or more 12%13% Disengaged Civic Specialist Electoral Specialist Dual Activist

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo How Do Youth and Adults Compare?

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Major Findings: Race and Ethnicity African-Americans are the most POLITICALLY engaged Asian-Americans are highly engaged in civic activities Young Latinos are least engaged, however 25% have protested Young Whites are neither most nor least engaged

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Civic Typology by Race/Ethnicity, Ages 15 to 25, 2006

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Confidence in Government is down Young people are more supportive of government than adults Two thirds believe government should do more to solve problems However: Plurality says that government is almost always wasteful and inefficient, up 19 points over 2002

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Change in Confidence in Government 2002 and to 2526 and older

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Change in Confidence in Government 2002 and to 2526 and older

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Change in Confidence in Government 2002 and to 2526 and older

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Political Knowledge is Low 53% are unaware that only citizens can vote in federal elections Only 30% can correctly name at least one member of the Presidents Cabinet Only 34% know that the U.S. has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Most Engaged have Higher Level of Political Knowledge

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Electoral Engagement and Political Knowledge

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Young People Are Tolerant But somewhat less so than 2002 Remain more favorable toward immigrants and gays than their elders 67% say they have confronted someone who said something they considered offensive, such as a racist or other prejudiced comment.

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Acceptance of Gays 15 to 2526 and older

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Acceptance of Immigrants 15 to 2526 and older

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Partisanship Since 2002, fewer young people lean towards the Republican Party –47% Democrat (no change) –28% Republican (3 point drop) –24% Independent (2 point gain)

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo and 2006 Partisanship 15 to and older

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Fewer Young People See Their Generation as Unique 59% say their generation is unique (10 point drop) Among young people who are 19 to 29 today (and were 15 to 25 in 2002), 56% say their generation is unique today. This is down 13 points from 2002.

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Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Summary of Major Findings Young people are broadly engaged in their communities However a sizeable group is not engaged Young African-Americans are most politically engaged Though young Latinos report lowest engagement

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo Summary of Major Findings Political Knowledge is low, though the engaged exhibit more political knowledge Confidence in government is down Acceptance of gays and immigrants is lower today

Abby Kiesa Karlo Marcelo