Poll: Young Americans' Political Outlook and Perspectives
Author: MTV and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
March 31, 2018
Young people acknowledge that the public has become more interested and involved with politics since Trump’s election in 2016. Majorities feel that people are now paying attention to politics (64%), questioning the media (62%), engaging in political activism (61%), and having conversations about race and gender issues (60% and 53%, respectively) more than they were before.
Half of young Americans are already thinking about the 2018 midterm elections, and majorities support a number of policy changes on issues currently under debate, including addressing climate change (60%). As with older Americans, there are considerable differences in support between Democrats (77%), Republicans (32%) and Independents (58%).
Despite the visibility of recent protests by high school students and other young people, many young Americans say they don’t have much influence on the government. 62% percent think people like themselves have little or no impact on what the government does, and 75% say public officials care only a little or not at all about what people like them think.
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