Audience: Youth

Based on Spring 2018 polling, this slidedeck summarizes research on how youth audiences (defined here as Millennials and younger) approach electoral politics. 
The authors identify four drivers influencing voting: political understanding, belief in the political system, a sense of civic or personal responsibility to vote, and alignment with the Democratic Party. Conversely, the lack of these drivers (e.g., skepticism of the political system) are among four key barriers to participation identified. The authors also describe four types of mindsets among young eligible voters, one that leads to voting and three that do not. These latter three mindsets may be based on apathy (lack of personal political interest), a revolutionary mentality (distrust of a broken political system), or uncompromising values (refusal to vote for candidates they do not fully support).

Students, young adults, and millennials are taking a leading role in movement spaces across the country,  and  the youth climate organizing community is no exception. Last week, Lab members came together for a  peer learning exchange*  to share experiences and relevant research, as well as new ideas and tactics around engaging youth on climate.  You can  watch a recording of the conversation here*  and check out  the slide deck here*. 

Talking about climate, especially with folks whose politics are different than our own, can be…challenging, given how polarized the issue has unfortunately become. At the same time, those types of face-to-face conversations are arguably one of the most critical approaches for moving past the social media echo chambers, and engaging Americans on this and other potentially divisive issues. This week we share work that several groups have done to use conversation to find common ground on climate (and in some cases mobilize people to act), and review the evidence behind the effectiveness of dialogues to improve public engagement, and ultimately move the needle on climate and clean energy.