The Impact of Youth Voice in the American Political System

Julia Kim
ABSTRACT
After the 2012 Presidential Election in January 2013, Senator John McCain mentioned
during an interview in CNN that he is not sure if it is politics but it certainly involves the
realization that polarizing the Latino and Hispanic vote is polarized indicated in the
demographics, the chances of becoming part of the majority becomes minimal. After the
election, attention was on the Republican Part and how they will be addressing this loss,
including the increasing gap in the demographics of voters. Two of the voter groups which have
received attention are the younger voters, those that are of ages 18-29, as well as minority
voters, especially the Latinos. Both groups voted in numbers in favor of President Barack
Obama as well as the Democratic Party. The trend started in 2008 and continued until 2012. A
study was conducted regarding the Latino vote as soon as the election was finished. That study
concluded that the younger Latino voters, similar to the majority of the youth all over the
world, have supported Obama more than Romney.
Through this research, I am interested in examining this trend particularly among the
younger vote, particularly focusing on how the differences in the generation have an influence
on the vote of the entire Latino population, which is considered as the fastest increasing
demographics all over the country. By focusing at these trends in voting, I want to examine the
following aspects:
The factors involving the decision of voters to lean towards the candidates from the
Democratic Party.
The issues that are considered prevalent between the voting groups
If there is any difference at all
A lot of the Republican strategists have identified the need to focus on Latino voters, using
their immigration reform as symbolic platform in order to win this demographic over. While
considering the questions stated above, I am planning on focusing towards the determination
whether immigration reform alone is enough to win the younger Latino voters alone, or it is
already too late for the Republicans to possibly win over these groups.
Existing Political Environment
The current focus among Republicans as of the moment seems to be on how the party
can possibly rebrand or reframe their image so as to possibly win the next national election in
2016. This is quite a huge responsibility to cover for any strategist in politics. However, it can
also be especially challenging, considering the current environment in politics. On top of that,
the trust of the general public towards the U.S government is at 19% low. With these numbers
showing, together with the increasing animosity towards the political parties, as well as the
publics general distrust towards the government, a lot of people are wondering why this is
even happening. A lot of people simply turn to the partisan divide in Congress, as well as within
the American people. (Boller, 2013).

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HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

It is very important to get the younger voters to become engaged in politics at a very
early age. Campbell (2000) was the first comprehensive research completed on the traditional
U.S voter and discovered that an individual voters turnout during the past elections is related
strongly to their turnout in the future. This concept has already been studied by various
political scientists for several years. According to recent research conducted, voting once can
actually increase the chances of voting during the next election of up to 50%. This voting forms
a habit that is very important among the younger people since they learn regarding the political
process.
Take for instance the election cycle of 2004. It was considered as a pivotal year for the
younger voters. Voters aging 18 to 20 have seen quite a dramatic increase in the year 2004. At
that point, there was an increase of about 4.3 million new young voters in just a period of four
years. By the year 2008, that number increased once again, now totaling more than 22 million,
which is 51% of the overall younger voters.
Republican Party and the Younger Latino Voters
Looking at the stance of the party regarding immigration issues, it is very important to
have an understanding why they are interested in rebranding and reframing their message
towards their voters. At a press conference, Senator McCain said that the Republicans definitely
need to compete for the Latino voters. At this moment the party is not competitive because
they are slacking in terms of immigration reform.
As emphasized by other research studies, younger Latino voters, and the Latino group in
general, have constantly expressed that the stance of the Republican Party regarding
immigration has served as litmus test, measuring whether or not the Party has shown them a
welcoming arms to the country (Boen, 2009). Immigration has always been a very
controversial issue for the politics in America. Culture and values of the country play a huge role
in understanding how this issue has been understood and how it can possibly influence the
perceptions of the American population.
CONCLUSION
As depicted in the survey results, the younger respondents greatly differ on certain
issues. However, there was also a tendency to agree on some issues as well. This increasing
understanding on liberal idealism with regard to social issues has been represented accordingly
all throughout the survey. The politics behind immigration reform, and where the Republican
Party stand in the view of the younger voters was interesting to scrutinize. Even though there is

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no actual way of identifying the decisions that each voter will take in 2016, this survey provides
a good overview of where the younger voters stand as of the moment, most especially when
talking about a certain number of issues.

REFERENCES
Boller, M. (2013). Annual Estimates on Voters Population: Latino Minority Included.
Journal of Political Administration. 34(9), 123-235.
Campbell, A. (2000). Understanding the Census Bureaus Voting
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