Post Election, Young Americans Stand Up, Speak Out, and Do Something
Civic Engagement is Being Driven By Young Liberals
Did you miss Part Four? Check it out.
Wide-scale disagreement with Trump’s actions and intentions corresponds with a significant increase in young people’s civic engagement and participation in organized protests.
Since the November 2016 election of Donald Trump, 1 in 6 (17%) young people have taken part in an organized protest, nearly double the rate that had taken part in a protest over the previous year (9%) when our survey last fielded the question in spring 2016. Additionally 1 in 5 young people have signed a petition and 1 in 3 have used social media to encourage other people to take political action on an issue since the November election.
Across the board, almost all of the post election increase in civic engagement is being driven by young liberals (32% of all young people). Since the election of Trump, 53% of young liberals have encouraged others online to take action on political/social issues; just 18% of young conservatives and 16% for young moderates have done the same. Moreover, 33% of moderates and 30% of conservatives state they have never done, and would never under any circumstances encourage others to take action online. Only 7% of liberals feel as strongly.
Young moderates, the largest group of young people at 42%, have not increased their civic participation in the months following the election of Donald Trump, despite registering low approval ratings of Trump’s job performance (net approval of -36) and policies (just 26% agree with travel ban and 17% agree with the border wall).
Moreover, when it comes to tasks like asking others to take action online, nearly one-third of both young moderates and young conservatives say they would never, under any circumstances, do so — while only 7% of young liberals say the same. Young moderates disapprove of Trump, but are not actively resisting him.
Research & Editorial Team
Jeff Bladt, Chief Data Officer, DoSomething.org
Nick McCormick, Data and Survey Research Analyst, DoSomething.org
Keri Goff, Creative Director, DoSomething.org
Meredith Ferguson, Managing Director, TMI Strategy
2017 Polling Methodology:
The survey was distributed to individuals ages 13–25 across the United States and its outlying territories. The final sample includes 581 observations. Results presented here are reported post-weighting, meaning that the opinions and actions of 13-year-old females are just as well represented as those of 25-year-old males. Assuming a population size of approximately 45,000,000 13–25 year olds nationwide, a sample size of 581 at a 95% confidence level allows for a 4.07% margin of error.
2016 Polling Methodology:
The survey was distributed to individuals ages 13–25 across the United States and its outlying territories. Prior to analysis, the data was cleaned and weighted as follows:
• Individuals with completion times of under 5 minutes were excluded from the results.
• Individuals younger than 13 years of age or older than 25 years of age were excluded from the results.
• Weights were applied to create equal representations across gender and age.
The final sample includes 3,305 observations. Results presented here are reported post-weighting, meaning that the opinions and actions of 13-year-old females are just as well represented as those of 25-year-old males. Assuming a population size of approximately 45,000,000 13–25 year olds nationwide, a sample size of 3,305 at a 95% confidence level allows for a 1.7% margin of error.
About DoSomething.org
DoSomething.org is the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change. We’re activating 5.5 million young people (and counting!) to make positive change, online and off, in every US area code and in over 131 countries. When you join DoSomething, you join something bigger than yourself. You team up with the young people who have clothed half of America’s youth in homeless shelters. And cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts from the streets. And run the largest youth-led sports equipment drive in the world. And more! You’ve got the power and the passion to make an impact — we’ll help you get it done. Welcome to DoSomething. Let’s Do This.
About TMI Strategy
TMI is a strategy consultancy that uncovers insights about young people to develop creative solutions that drive social change. Fueled by DoSomething.org’s proprietary data from millions of young people involved in hundreds of cause initiatives, we uncover what motivates young people to connect with companies and causes they care about. Not your typical agency, every project TMI takes on has positive impact on people, the planet, or both — and 100% of TMI’s profits support DoSomething.org. For more information, visit tmistrategy.org.
