So why is this important? It shows that major differences in voting by age may, at least somewhat, be explained by the differences in registration rates. Voter registration is a critical first step in mobilizing young people to be involved in the political process. It is by no means the only step, but it should provide reason for political parties, policymakers and youth groups to break down barriers to registration, as well as engage youth in the registration process as early as possible. (In 2008. 21% of 18-to 29 year-olds who did not register to vote stated that they did not meet the registration deadlines in their states).

This figure shows 2008 registration and turnout rates for citizens with no college experience, by age

–Surbhi Godsay

• There are approximately 46 million youth eligible to vote in 2012.*
• The number of young people who are newly eligible to vote since 2008 is about 16.8 million**

Both parties have a chance to mobilize this new group of voters. In an attempt to do so, they can first think about youth voter registration opportunities; we know from research that young people are more likely to vote if they are registered (84% of those registered to vote actually did vote in 2008; 87% for college students). For those young people who will be newly off to college in the fall, they may have to register at a new location and/or find information about the absentee ballot process.

–Surbhi Godsay

*Calculation is based on CIRCLE analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) 2011 March Basic Supplement
** Calculation is based on CIRCLE analysis of 2010 Census Brief, http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf

• In North Carolina, Obama won the state, taking 74% of the under 30s but losing all the older age groups.
• In Indiana, Obama took the state, winning 63% of the under-30s, but losing all the older groups.
• In Virginia, Obama won the state, taking 49% of the under-30 votes, but McCain won 50% of the 30+ votes, so McCain would have won by a very slight margin if the minimum voting age had been 30.

Additionally, here’s an infographic summarizing youth vote choice in other battleground states in the last five Presidential Elections:

The above graphic is based on the data in this spreadsheet.

CIRCLE is the leading center for studying youth civic engagement. We are pioneering a national initiative to research and improve the relationship between higher education and civic participation. CIRCLE has executed a successful pilot phase that measured student voter participation at universities in four states.

The National Project Director will turn this pilot project into a national research and communications organization serving hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide in all fifty states, impacting research, policy, and student civic participation.

The National Project Director will develop the non-profit business plan, design the system for handling data, and market the project nationally. S/he will create over 100 research partnerships with higher learning institutions across the country in 2012, and continue expanding the research network to over 400 institutions by 2016.

Applicants should demonstrate expertise in leadership, negotiation, management, systems development, communications and client relations. Substantial experience with legal compliance, statistical analysis, and data management highly preferred. Knowledge of higher education research, policy and law desired.

Submit resume and cover letter here.

Because CIRCLE focuses on youth, we decided to see how Obama’s youth approval rating differed from the approval of other age groups after specific, significant events:

• The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus (2/17/2009),
• The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Healthcare Reform (3/23/2010),
• The passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (7/21/2010),
• The passage of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act (12/22/2010),
• The death of Osama bin Laden (5/1/2011), and
• 2012’s most recent polling (4/22/2012)

The approval ratings in the graphs below reflect data during the week that each particular event took place. If the event occurred on the last day of the week-long poll, the next week’s data was used.

Overall, the youth approval ratings are consistently much higher than the other two age groups’ approval. Youth also seem to be less affected by major events: their approval rating stayed between 57% and 61% over a long period. The 30-49 year old and 50-64 year old groups were within a few points of each other after all the specific events, with the exception of the DADT Repeal Act, when there was a five-point difference. The most recent polling, with no specific event, showed a six-point difference between the two groups.

When we use the same dates but look at approval ratings by race (inclusive for all ages), the differences are startling. The Black approval rating is extremely high across the board. Conversely, the White approval ratings are at least 35 points lower than the Black approval ratings, and are consistently low. The Hispanic approval ratings show the greatest degree of change across time.

-Whitney Henderson

In the 2008 election, 70% of current college students were registered to vote, and 87% of the registered students cast a ballot on Election Day. This was the highest turnout of registered students since at least 1984 (see graph below). Among all youth (18-29), 84% of those who were registered to vote did so in 2008.

College students were over-represented at the polls in 2008, compared to the number in the general youth population. Enrolled college students made up 39% of the 18-to-24 year-old citizen population in 2008, yet made up 48% of youth who voted.

Levinson combines anecdotes from her eight years of teaching middle school in Atlanta and Boston, political theorizing, and social science analysis.  She argues that the United States suffers from a civic empowerment gap that is as shameful and anti-democratic as the academic achievement gap targeted by No Child Left Behind.

Levinson shows how schools can help address the civic empowerment gap by teaching collective action, openly discussing the racialized dimensions of citizenship, and provoking students by engaging their passions against contemporary injustices through action civics.  The book also includes chapters on historical counternarratives, heroes and role models, school culture, and accountability.

A book panel and reception will take place at Harvard on April 25 from 5:30-7:00. It is open to the public.

• Moderated by Peter Levine (Director of CIRCLE, Tisch College, Tufts)
• Featuring  Author Meira Levinson, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Jennifer Hochschild, Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government at Harvard University, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Harvard College Professor
• Lawrence Bobo, W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University
• James Liou, Assistant/Teacher Coach, Boston Public Schools & Special Project Director- BPS Civics Initiative

Praise for No Citizen Left Behind:

“A must-read for anyone who cares to see young people from all backgrounds grow into self-confident and efficacious citizens.”—Danielle S. Allen, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

“A landmark book that should influence teachers of all subjects in American schools while providing an important model for scholars.”—Peter Levine, Tufts University

“A very sophisticated and lively argument, backed by wonderful tales from school, for what it might mean if we really educated for democracy. An important contribution to a field dominated by clichés.”—Deborah Meier, co-author of Playing for Keeps

“Brilliant. No Citizen Left Behind is must reading for anyone concerned with the reform of civic education in America. An inspiration for both scholars and practitioners.”—Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and co-author of American Grace

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. –Two percent of eligible voters under the age of 30 in Maryland and eight percent in Wisconsin participated in yesterday’s primaries, according to exclusive preliminary analysis by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE).

Former Gov. Mitt Romney was the top choice of Wisconsin’s young Republican voters, with 32% of the under-30 vote, followed by Rep. Ron Paul, who won 30% of the youth votes. Former Sen. Rick Santorum placed third, with 28% of the votes. In Maryland, Romney placed second, with 28% of young voters, and Santorum won the youth vote, with 37% of the votes (see Table 2).

“Santorum’s first-place finish among young voters in Maryland and Romney’s narrow win in Wisconsin reinforce the fact that young Republicans are not sold on Romney,” said CIRCLE director Peter Levine.

The youth turnout increased in Wisconsin from 2004, 2%, to 2012, 8% (see Table 1). Although no two primary years are the same, we compare the 2012 primaries to 2004 since in both cases only one party held a competitive race.

No comparative historical information is available in Maryland. Because of a lack of available data, the CIRCLE turnout estimates do not include young people who participated in Democratic primaries.

Youth turnout rate and number of youth votes are based on CIRCLE analysis of publicly available information (see Sources below).

* 2000 data combines the Democratic and Republican figures. For separate results by party, see Table 4.
** 2004 statistics include the Democratic Primary only. There was no Republican Primary in 2004, because President George W. Bush was an incumbent and the GOP nominee.
*** 2012 and 1996 statistics include the Republican Primary only. In both years, there was/is no Democratic Primary, because there was/is an incumbent president from the Democratic Party that took the nomination.

Sources: The share of primary participants is obtained from the 2012, 2008 and 2004 MD/WI exit poll conducted by Edison Research, and the 2000 and 1996 MD/WI exit poll conducted by Voter News Services. The numbers of votes cast are obtained from www.nytimes.com and www.cnn.com (as of 5:30 a.m. ET, 4/4/2012). The numbers of votes cast in the past election years were obtained from various sources, including the Washington Post archives (1996), Federal Election Commission (2000 and 2004), and CNN.com (2008). Estimated voter turnout is obtained by taking the estimated number of votes cast by young people and dividing it by the estimated population of 18- to 29-year-old citizens from the Current Population Survey (1995-2011).  See below for definitions.

Source: National Election Pool Maryland and Wisconsin Exit Poll 2012

Source: CIRCLE analysis of National Election Pool State Exit Polls 2008 and 2012 figures are rounded to hundreds.

Comparisons to past years must be made with caution, because turnout is affected by the date of the primaries and by the nature of the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, which are different in every cycle. For example, in 2008 both the Republicans and Democrats held primaries, but in 2012 only the Republicans held a competitive primary. Table 4 provides estimates of youth participation in the Maryland and Wisconsin primaries by party and year.

Definitions

• Youth: For the purpose of this press release and estimation of youth participation in the Maryland and Wisconsin primaries, we define “youth” as citizens under 30 years old who were eligible to vote on April 3, 2012, as permitted by state election law.
• Number of youth who participated: An estimate of how many youth participated in caucuses or primaries.
• Youth share: An estimate of the number of young people who participated in the primary as a percentage of the number of all people who participated.
• Youth turnout rate: An estimate of the number of young people who cast ballots as a percentage of the total number of young people who were eligible to participate on April 3, 2012.

The youth turnout rate is the best indicator of how young Americans are engaging in the political process. The other statistics—the sheer number of youth participants and the youth share of the electorate—can change because of factors unrelated to youth engagement.

To sign-up to receive copies of CIRCLE’s cutting-edge research on young Americans and next-day voter turnout estimates for the 2012 elections, please email amy@lunamediagroup.com.

Click here to obtain more extensive information about Wisconsin’s young voters and historical voting trends, and click here for Maryland.