Voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds has fallen by 18 percent between 1975 and 2000, according to the Pew Research Center. Other studies show a marked decline in newspaper readership among this same age group. The studies indicate that the image of apathetic youth towards politics is a correct one.
But for one group of researchers, it is an image worth disproving. Youth as E-Citizens, a study conducted by AU faculty members Kathryn Montgomery, Barbara Gottlieb-Robles and Gary Larson, shows young people involved in local, national and international issues and taking civic involvement to a higher level.
Also, they are using the internet to get involved, from voting to volunteering and participating in other political action projects.
The 155-page study analyzes 400 Web sites that were found through links, search engines, youth magazines and firsthand sources. These sites embodied the "new digitally civil landscape" and spoke "deliberately and directly to young people."
Gottlieb-Robles said that the study aims to disprove the concept of youth apathy "with some dazzling evidence" and to show the role of the Internet in American civic life and democracy.
Forms of this new landscape include Rock the Vote's online voter registration form and "cyber activism."
The study reveals that there are different forms of involvement, including political and social. It categorizes involvement in 10 groups, which range from voting and volunteering, to local and global issues.
While the report tries to disprove the image, the question remains, why does the concept of youth apathy exist in the first place?
Gottlieb-Robles thinks that the reason why civic apathy exists could be that young people are frustrated that "there aren't effective and clear ways for citizens to make change even though this is a democracy."
She also says that while the Internet is not a cure-all, it provides access to new skills, and new ways to make change.
Josh Kaushansky, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, believes that youth apathy is part of "a vicious feedback cycle."
"If you look at elections, the elderly vote overwhelmingly more often than people in the 18-to-24 age bracket," Kaushansky said. "As such, politicians speak to and support policies that are aimed at the people that vote the most, [for] e.g. Social Security and Medicare, because they know that seniors vote. People my age look at that and figure that politicians don't listen to them, and so they don't vote."
The question of whether politicians are listening is then raised.
Professor Larissa Tracy, who was AU's faculty advisor for Generation Dean, points out that youth involvement in the Howard Dean presidential campaign increased substantially after he used the Internet to reach out to voters.
"[Gov.] Howard Dean was responsible for galvanizing the Internet generation in this campaign and sparking interest and passion in college students, a passion that [Sen.] John Kerry now hopes to harness in his run for president," Tracy said.
Although the issue of youth involvement is at the core of this study, the role of the Internet in a democracy is being questioned. The study has noticed several developments that could threaten "the survival of its growth" which include insufficient financial support, commercialism and changes in the architecture of the Internet.
Even though the Internet is playing an active tool among young adults, there is an increasing fear that media conglomerates reduce the diversity of alternative voices.
It also suggests a number of ways that would help foster youth activity and politics online. These recommendations include furthering studies to assess the impact of online efforts on offline civic engagement and the development of new funding models.
Gottlieb-Robles points out that American society is especially dependent on its media, and for this reason, the American public should demand openness, accessibility and affordability of media.
"The media is an expression of our personal selves, as citizens," Gottlieb-Robles said. "It is the tool of choice to organize, and mobilize. The Internet in its current form is a tool worth fighting for."
The study was funded by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and study is part of the Center for Social Media's new Youth, Media, and Democracy Project, which is supported by the Surdna Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
The Center for Social Media provides the study online for those interested in an interactive and visual version of the report, as well as the links to 75 Web sites that were studied. More information is available at http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/index2.htm.
