Third, research suggests that college students in particular, and young Americans in general, are not
simply distrustful, but also tend to be dismissive of politics as relevant to their daily lives. Only one in
four young Americans (ages 15 to 24) believe that government has a major impact on their day-to-day
life (Carpini, 2000). Young adults are significantly less likely than older adults to think their
participation in politics would make a difference. For example, 45 percent feel their vote does not
matter regardless of who wins an election (Carpini, 2000). Not surprisingly, then, a fourth barrier is
that students exhibit a minimal level of interest in public affairs. Again, Carpini uncovers research
showing that only 19 percent of 18 to 29 year olds say they follow politics and government “most of
the time” compared with 51 percent of those 50 or older. Only 27 percent of today’s college freshmen
think keeping up with public affairs is very important compared with 59 percent of college freshmen in
1966 (Carpini, 2000). Thus, our students tend to have low levels of political literacy and high
informational deficits. For instance, a national survey reports that young adults tend not to discuss
politics with friends or family (Hart Research Associates, 2004), and express declining interest in
serving in appointed or elected government positions (Hart Research Associates, 2004).
Convention