Talkin' Bout (Y) Generation

We've all experienced the relentless social media barrage of pleas, primarily by the Obama campaign, for young Americans to replicate the stunningly adequate turnout of young voters in 2008. However, in a piece sure to appall those young ideologues hopeful of a similarly impressive showing from college-age voters, Forbes contributor J. Maureen Henderson claims  that the contingent of young voters she broadly designates as "Generation Y" has demonstrated far less interest in 2012 despite the pressing economic issues looming over new and hopeful entrants into the job market.

Henderson cites an array of polls and figures to highlight that, even though the value of a favored candidate winning has ostensibly risen due to spiraling loan debts and diminishing quality of life, Generation Y's concerns "don't seem to translate into political engagement." Certainly, as Johnson indicated by noting that "less than one-fourth" of eligible voters under 25 participate in Congressional elections, young voters have never enjoyed a sterling voting record. But on the heels of a staggering 51% turnout for "eligible youth" in '08, the plummeting enthusiasm in voting or in even keeping abreast of election coverage imply that young voters, in addition to the concerns about low probability of making a difference that often fuel rational abstention and ignorance, actually place a lower value on the winning candidate despite the seemingly astronomical stakes. Given Henderson's discoveries that only 37% of women feel that politicians "reflect the interests of young Americans" and that 50% less young people have followed election coverage, it follows logically that Generation Y places comparatively less weight on the impact of their political involvement on their welfare than they did four years ago--and that what Johnson calls the "optimal amount of information" lies at a far lower quantity.

Of particular interest is Henderson's contention that young voters "tend to adopt a 'What's in it for me?' attitude." Imbued with such a mentality, young voters are more inclined to conclude, rationally, that respect for the "men and women who have sacrificed their resources" does not  retain the infinite benefit of voting which so many Americans irrationally seem to assign. When making the decision to vote with a far lower "sacrifice" value in mind--and, again, with a lower monetary value stemming from sentiments of disillusionment or insignificance--many Generation Y voters will rationally decide to "opt out on November 6."

On a brief concluding note, the statistical discrepancy between those "planning" to vote and the quantity of actual voters reinforces the conjecture that the urge to "seem involved" and conform to social norms influences voting behavior.