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The 2024 Presidential Election: The Broken Bond Between Youth and Democracy
The 2024 election saw Donald Trump make significant gains among young voters, increasing his support among 18- to 29-year-olds by 10 percentage points. This report aims to investigate the deeper issues at stake that are causing this historical shift.
By:
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Melina Geser-Stark
Programs
Issues
In the 2024 election, Donald Trump made notable gains among young voters, increasing his support among 18- to 29-year-olds by 10 percentage points—the highest level of youth backing for a Republican presidential candidate since 2008. At first glance, this shift may suggest that young people are trending politically right. But that interpretation overlooks deeper, relational dynamics at the core of democratic engagement. Many young voters feel increasingly disillusioned with a political system they see as ineffective and disconnected from their lived experiences. This report explores the underlying forces driving this historic change.
Melina Geser-Stark is a Research Assistant at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Ash Center or its affiliates.
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