Is Voting for Young People - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review; Is Voting for Young People? In his book Is Voting for Young People? Martin Wattenberg pursues the possible reasons that lead to the occurrence of a pattern that young people do not vote as they should when it comes to voting (politics). Although most of the observations are based on the United States, Wattenberg states that even in other established democracies, the same trend is observed. Generally, the argument in the book is that modern democracies are faced by the issue of declining political participation and awareness amongst the young adults, and that these are bound to have negative effects in the future of politics. Currently, Wattenberg argues, the systems are made by old people and as such, the young people are kept from exploring their full potential in many contexts including politics. The following literature reviews the book, giving supportive evidence which led to his conclusions that the youth do not participate in such civic duties, in addition to his suggested solutions. The main argument in the book makes sense that is, it is logical. Since times in memorial, the American young adult class has always set itself aside from political matters. This is evident first by comparing the number of political leaders who are young adults versus the “old” people. The obvious is that fewer youth are seen in the political screens. Additionally, and forming Wattenberg’s main argument, the youth shy away, or are ignorant when it comes to voting. This is chiefly so because they claim that their votes are meaningless, and that politics do not mean much to them. Throughout the evidence provided, the author does not seem to acknowledge any significant participation of youth in politics, creating some bias in presenting the opposing and proposing worldviews. In the introductory chapters, Wattenberg states that with the advance of time, more and more youth are turning down voting (4). According to him, the biggest problem with youths is that they have the mentality that politicians do not perceive of their votes as being important, and therefore choose not to bother. This in turn creates a repelling reaction from the politicians who feel that since the youth do not value politics, then they have no mandate to accord them. This assertion is particularly open and true since many polls’ evaluation reveal that the young generation finds politics “boring’ and only for the elderly. Again, less youth vote in general elections. Wattenberg furthers his stance on the matter by incorporating more evidence derived from opinion polls. The opinion polls suggest that people tend to digest politics the more as they grow older. This he attributes to the fact that the elderly people have more time for community-focussed issues than the youth whose main interests are based on individual accomplishments. This trend of the elderly participating more in politics makes the younger generation to feel sidelined, and this further pushes them away from politics. All these statements appear sufficient to support his argument that the youth are not participatory in politics; that the youth have created the grounds for the elderly to replace them in political decision-making, and this has in turn dwarfed the meaning of their role in such matters. Wattenberg further accuses the youth’s lack of participation in politics to their ignorance. Wattenberg (90) states that “You know what you follow” to present this claim. In his explanation, he says that the younger people have no interest in reading informative sources such as newspapers. Instead, they are obsessed with entertainment, fashion, and other hyped information sources. The same applies with television; research has proven that the elderly people are likely to use television to be updated on emerging issues whereas the youth would rather be watching movies, getting entertained, or playing video games. This is one reason which has driven the youth far from being informed on what civic duties they are mandated with, such as voting. This argument by Wattenberg is true, based on the fact that even in current times, opinion polls continue to blame television for the negative type of lifestyle that the young people are taking up. Distractive technology and literature such as magazines not only affect the political knowledge of the younger generation, but other areas such as studies and health as well. Further into his book, Wattenberg poses some potential mitigation measures to ensure that the youth participate in civic matters such as voting. “...it is best to force people to do what is good for them, even if it is construed as a violation of individual rights (173). What the author implies is that there should be constitutional means of “forcing” the youth to vote. This may be (for instance), making voting for all persons who have attained adult age to vote. This is a potential solution, but it presents more weaknesses than it does strengths. This is so because yes, the youth might be pushed into voting, but that will not make them develop any interest, and for that reason, they may just vote to fulfil the constitutional demands. In short, it may only increase the youth’s turnout at polls, but in contributing to other related matters such as giving opinions and raising their concerns, the trend may not improve at all. Wattenberg, in trying to solve the problem of youth not being interested in newspapers and other communication channels which they consider “outdated” suggests that better ways of reaching them. These ways should be based on technology. To support this, he proposes that online newspapers should be designed such that they catch more youths who use online media (28). He seemingly perceives of the problem as being caused by newspapers being ignored as the youngsters turn to technological media such as websites and social networks. While this is a friendlier solution to the looming problem, the author does not consider than in the same way that the young generation pushes the newspapers away is the same way they can ignore the websites. This is further made weak by the observation that even in online forums; youths do not participate much as their elder counterparts do. In evaluation, the layout of the book is well-organized in that the argument is introduced as it is in reality, then supported evidence is presented, and finally implementable solutions are recommended. The issue of supporting the thesis is particularly done perfectly since Wattenberg gives an observation then supports it by giving evidence derived from real-life situations such as opinion polls. This therefore makes his sources credible and sufficient in supporting the arguments, thus thesis. On another note, the information in the book is further made credible in that after each presented claim, the author brings in a supporting source. The conclusions made in the book, for instance that the ignorance of youth in pursuing political information is what makes the elder generation to take over their roles are condensed from observations made from opinion polls. As such, it is sufficient to state that the book is generally spot-on in the claims made, evidence provided, and the conclusions made. Rather than just come up with conclusions based on no credible origin, Wattenberg uses the evidence collected to predict the future, and also create recommendations. In summing up, the conclusion which is largely made of recommendations goes beyond the evidence provided. This is so because the author uses the issues seen as leading to the problem in coming up with these potential solutions. Generally, it is a good read. Work Cited Wattenberg, Martin P. Is Voting for Young People? 3rd Edition (Great Questions in Politics Series). New York: Pearson Education, 2011. Print. Read More