Is the Youth Vote Liberal?

Conventional wisdom is that young voters are more liberal than older voters due to their progressive views on social and cultural policies. Cook notes, however, that youthful idealism can sometimes generate support for more conservative policies. He instead focuses on limited liberalism, "a life-cycle theory where [young voters], as a function of youth, want government to 'do more' to intervene economically in the private sector, especially including the regulation of business, to provide better, higher-quality, higher-paying jobs for all Americans willing to work for them" (p. 28). Older voters, in contrast, have more experience with the regulatory state failing to meet well-intentioned aims. This does not always translate into advantages for Democrats, as Cook illustrates with examples from the 1950s and 1980s. Cook also attends to other factors, including race and ethnicity: "Younger whites did vote more Republican than Democrat in 2012, 2016, and 2020.... There is no question that gaps concerning race and ethnicity are more important today than gaps involving age. But that does not mean the youth gap is not there" (p. 123). This dense book draws on extensive survey data and campaign staff interviews. Cook concludes that "youth remain demanders of economic innovation and aspiration" (p. 193). Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

-- "Choice Reviews"

While many pundits pontificate about "the kids these days" (often without evidence), Zachary Cook brings nuance--and data!--to the question of what young voters think about economic issues. Contrary to conventional wisdom, they are not radical socialists. But neither are they ardent free-marketeers. Anyone who wants to understand the youth vote should absorb the lessons of this book.

--David Campbell, University of Notre Dame