Writing Resources
The age differences in political attitudes and voting choices in the past three election cycles have been driven by three broad social and political trends The first is the growing racial and ethnic diversity of the country reflected in the rising percentage of non whites among younger age cohorts Non whites have been far more supportive of the Democratic Party in the last several decades Among members of the Silent generation today 79 are non Hispanic whites among the Millennial generation just 59 are non Hispanic whites A second factor is the political environment experienced by successive generations as they have come of age politically The relative popularity of the president and the two major political parties at the time an individual turns 18 has clear consequences for their voting preferences in subsequent elections A third factor is the broader societal changes that occur within a generation s life cycle These changes have a bigger impact on the political views of younger people who are still in the process of forming opinions Older people are more likely to reflect the values prevalent when they were growing up The greater acceptance of homosexuality and interracial dating among young people than older ones today are examples of this The contrasting race and ethnic compositions of the nation s older and younger adults reflect overall change in the U S where non Hispanic whites are a dwindling share of the population
