What do young people think when they hear the word politics?
For many young people, the word politics evokes feelings of unhappiness and disillusionment. Close to half of young Americans surveyed in Springtide’s 2024 Study of Young People and Civic Life express unhappiness with the current direction of US politics (48%) and with US society overall (45%).
Conducted between December 2023 and March 2024, the study surveyed 6,669 young people ages 13 to 25 and interviewed an additional 76. When asked what comes to mind when they hear the word politics, very few interview respondents—just 7%—use positive terms. The majority of respondents use negative (51%) or neutral (42%) terms. Most frequently, young people use words like people, government, issues, sides, and arguments to describe politics.
Young people who use negative terms to describe politics characterize it as divisive and irrational. Some negative responses reference emotions using words like bad, turmoil, chaotic, and disaster. Responses describe being “frustrated with the current state of American politics” as well as feeling “fear” and “tension.” Others mention being “stressed out” and “nervous.” Negative responses also tend to depict politics as a “game” or a “joke”—as something that is difficult to take seriously.
Young people who use neutral terms to describe politics focus on governance. Neutral responses feature various governmental structures and functions, including the different branches of government, issues facing society, how elections work, and voting.
Young people who use positive terms to describe politics see political actors as working to improve society. Like young people who describe politics neutrally, those who describe it positively associate the word politics with governmental systems, processes, and actors. But unlike those who describe politics neutrally, this group of young people tends to assume that these systems, processes, and actors aim to make our shared world a better place.
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Note: All names listed above are pseudonyms. See survey responses in the topline survey results and review methodology here.
Dr. Kari Koshiol
Senior Project Manager and Client Relations
Dr. Nabil Tueme
Senior Research Associate
