Civic Language + Young Americans

A deep dive on the impact of age on civic language.

The health of our democracy depends on each generation taking up the work of civic engagement. Older generations of Americans are rightly interested in how younger Americans engage in the responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic republic. Younger Americans and the organizations that work with them also benefit from knowing which terms resonate most strongly with younger voters. In our Civic Language Perceptions Project, one way we are using the data is to better understand how young Americans compare to older generations in their civic activities, perceptions of terms, and definitions of democracy. In the design of our survey, respondents were grouped into the following age categories: 18–34, 35–54, 55–64, and 65+, and thus we can sort and compare the data according to these broad age groups.

On Thursday, May 5, PACE joined the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Partnership for American Democracy to present a first look at some of the data about young Americans in our survey. The session also included a panel discussion moderated by Caroline Kilbanoff from Civic Season that featured analysis from three younger Americans who are leading in organizations that foster youth engagement in civic activities: Manu Meel from BridgeUSA, Nimisha Ganesh from GenUnity, and David McCullough III from the American Exchange Project.

You can find the recording of the session here and below and a link to the slide deck here. During the session, we also released a Civic Language + Young Americans infographic.

These data reveal several interesting storylines, centered around the following questions:

1. How do young Americans differ in their perceptions of civic terms from older generations?
2. How do young Americans view democracy differently than older generations?
3. How are young Americans engaging in civic activities?

Data by Citizen Data. Infographic created by Cameron Blossom.

Analysis and Findings

For the purpose of illuminating these questions, we compared responses from people aged 18–34 (young Americans) to people 35+. In doing so, we found the following results:

• Young Americans are .15% more likely to be positive, 22.37% more likely to be negative, .76% more likely to be neutral, and 26.02% more likely to be unfamiliar with the 21 civic terms than Americans who are 35+. In other words, while they are about as positive and neutral on the terms as their older counterparts, they are more likely to be negative or unfamiliar.
• The top 5 positive words for young Americans are: diversity, unity, common good, belonging, and justice. The most positive word in the survey overall was unity, so it’s telling that younger Americans rank diversity even more positively.
• The top 5 negative words for young Americans are privilege, patriotism, justice, racial equity, and liberty.
• The top 5 neutral words for young Americans are civic engagement, citizen, civic health, belonging, and social justice.
• The top 5 unfamiliar words are young Americans are pluralism, civil society, civic infrastructure, civic health, and bridge builder.

It is interesting to note that the term democracy is not on any of the top 5 lists for young Americans. What can we learn from the data about how young Americans view democracy?

• While young Americans have the lowest positive perception of the term democracy, they are still more positive than negative towards the term. Positive perceptions of the term democracy increase by age: 47.3% of people ages 18-34 were positive about the word democracy, compared to 59.5% of people ages 35-54, 64.9% of people ages 55-64, and 79% of people ages 65+. We also think it’s worth calling out that while people ages 18-34 were the least positive, still almost half of this age group were positive towards the term democracy. That is not to be overlooked.
• Young Americans hold different definitions of the term democracy than other age groups. Data show they are the most likely group to define democracy as a way to include minority voices* (28.6% compared to 9.5% of Americans 65+) and as an ideal of self-government** (30% compared to 23.5% of Americans 65+). They are also the least likely to define democracy as a system or structure of government that is “of, by, and for the people” (38.3% compared to 65% of Americans 65+); however that is still the definition of choice for the most number of people in all four of the age group categories.

We also looked at the data to understand what it was telling us about what civic activities and attitudes young Americans hold. Young Americans think voting is important, as does every group we have analyzed in this project, but what’s notable is how much they value other ways to be civically engaged. When asked, “What types of activities do you think are important to ensure that democracy works?”, 49.3% selected voting from a list of 14 options. By contrast, 77.8% of Americans 35+ selected voting.

• The top five civic activities selected by young Americans were: voting (49.3%), volunteering (31.9%), advocating for issues (27.6%), attending public meetings (27.3%), and joining a cause or movement (26.4%).
• Interestingly, 13.5% of young Americans said none of the activities listed were important to ensure that democracy works, compared to 8.7% of Americans 35+ selecting the none option. This might be indicating that young Americans have other civic activities (beyond the 14 listed) they prioritize, or it could be a signal of hopelessness about democracy; more investigation will be needed.
• In the 2020 election, 34% of young Americans said they voted and 66% did not. The top three reasons they gave for not voting were COVID/health and safety concerns (17.1% compared to 7.7% of Americans 35+), feeling their vote wouldn’t make a difference (14.7% compared to 5.27% of Americans 35+), and worried that their vote wouldn’t be counted (11.2% compared to 3.4% of Americans 35+).

In the panel discussion that followed the presentation of these data, Manu, Nimisha, and David shared ideas for how to further engage young Americans in civic activities and in the ongoing, extraordinary experiment of American democracy. They pointed out that most young Americans have only ever known democracy, and so they both may take it for granted and might not know any other way to answer the question of how we are all going to live together and get along in a diverse society. Thus, even though many are dissatisfied with the status quo and have a strong desire for change, they may not have the support, tools, or knowledge to know how to build a better, stronger democracy that works for people who have historically been excluded from or do not see themselves reflected in the democratic experiment.

As the speakers urged, to engage young Americans, a broad view of civic participation is needed. Many are already involved in activities that strengthen their communities, and further efforts to encourage young Americans to vote need to affirm and build on the things that young Americans are already doing to address the issues and problems that they care about most. Finding creative and fun ways to capture their attention and imagination are key elements of efforts to increase civic engagement through a range of activities, including but not limited to voting. Since young Americans are the least likely group to have civic education, this work requires a comprehensive community-based approach rather than a reliance only on the educational system or candidates and their campaigns. Civic engagement can be a year round activity that includes relationship building as well as knowledge acquisition. Young Americans want to be agents of change, but they need guidance and support from organizations that are geared toward meeting them where they are, listening to their ideas and concerns, and providing them with practical and concrete avenues to impact their communities and the civic landscape more broadly.

These trends and findings in the data invite further investigation and exploration. In particular, these questions and topics were raised during the deep dive session as potential areas for future exploration:

• How might we build more trust with young Americans regarding the impact of their vote and assurance that their vote will be counted safely and fairly?
• Do some young people conflate democracy with capitalism? If so, how might that be impacting their perceptions of democracy and civic activities?
• Given that civic engagement among 18–34 year olds needs to have multiple, earlier and concurrent entry points beyond voting, how might organizations find new and creative ways to work with young people in order to strengthen American democracy?

We are grateful for the panelists who shared their insights on these data and further illuminated the perspectives of young Americans. We are also eager to continue learning with you on this important topic.

Keep an eye on our Medium page and twitter as we publish more learnings on this topic, and please let us know how this data is helping you and your work by emailing Language@PACEfunders.org. We look forward to learning from you!

To learn more about the Civic Language Perceptions Project, please visit www.PACEFunders.org/Language.

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*“Minority voices” is short-hand for this definition presented in the survey: “form of representation in government that ensures the voices of those least likely to have access to political power are prioritized in policies and decisions.”

**“Ideal of self-government” is short-hand for this definition presented in the survey: “people have the right and responsibility to have voice in government decisions as well as other political and non-political activities across society.”