ASU-led study examines effects of political turmoil on young voters
Voters line up outside a polling place at the Palo Verde West residential complex on the Tempe campus. ASU photo
Young adults approaching voting age in the U.S. are doing so in a political climate unlike any other.
Over the past four years, growing party polarization and hot-button issues have been the topic of conversation as young adults in the country are finding their political and social identity.
In swing states like Arizona, where issues related to the border and immigration mirror the national debate, the political climate is almost a microcosm of the country.
The question is how do these factors impact a person’s political position? More specifically, how do they impact young people from marginalized groups like Latinos and Native American populations in Arizona?
That’s what Nilda Flores-Gonzalez wanted to find out.
Flores-Gonzalez is leading a study titled, “Youth Vote and Political Engagement in Unsettled Times.” The research project examines how the social and political identities of young adults develop amid political turmoil and shape their political attitudes and behaviors in 2024.
Arizona State University researcher Flores-Gonzalez, who is the principal investigator, and co-principal investigators Angela Gonzales, Nathan Martin and Emir Estrada are being supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation.
“We want to look at how young people develop their political views and what leads them to certain political ideologies and affiliations,” said Flores-Gonzalez, a professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. “What drives some of them to follow Trump and makes others follow Harris?”
The study builds on data gathered by the Arizona Youth Identity Project before and after the 2020 election and will continue with data collected from interviews in Arizona before and after the 2024 election. Participants in the study are between the ages of 18 and 30 and are residents of Arizona. Latinos and Native Americans were selected because they make up the largest population of minorities.
Who is American?
Interview questions explore topics like: What does it mean to be an American? How do we define who is an American? And how do identities relating to being American lead to feeling connected or not?
“It was interesting to see how young people see the world and their place in it,” Flores-Gonzalez said. “Particularly the question of who is an American.”
“For example, are Americans white people?” Flores-Gonzalez said. “Are Americans people who were born in the U.S.? Are they people who do things like pay taxes or have particular values? How does being Latino or Native American make a person feel less American?”
According to Flores-Gonzalez, many of the Indigenous and Latino participants said they took pride in being Americans while at the same time felt they were not recognized as Americans in their own country. Issues of race and discrimination have shaped their experience and how they define their national identity.
“When they’re told repeatedly that they aren’t Americans, when they are constantly asked where they are from because of the way they look — even if they are third- or fourth-generation Americans — it impacts their feelings of belonging,” said Flores-Gonzalez, who is also the author of the book “Citizens But Not Americans: Race and Belonging among Latino Millennials.”
“Young Latinos talked about not being seen as Americans but rather being seen as Mexicans.”
These experiences contributed to decisions about political engagement, Flores-Gonzalez said.
“We are looking at what motivates them to participate,” she said. “Those who don’t see themselves as Americans may or may not engage. If you kind of feel you don't belong, maybe you don’t engage or are apathetic, or maybe you do engage to fight for your rights.”
Gonzales, a professor of American Indian studies at ASU, focused primarily on the Native American sample in the study. She noted the historical role that Indigenous people played in the American political system.
Although they have not voted in great numbers in the past, she said, in 2020, they turned out in droves, and data indicates that their huge voter turnout helped flip Arizona.
“What makes it even more remarkable is that this happened despite a history fraught with voter suppression and the fact that Native Americans weren't recognized as full citizens until 1946,” Gonzales said.
“What we've found in the study is this kind of this tension between many of these participants feeling a real sense of pride as the country’s first Americans — you know, the original inhabitants of this land — and yet at the same time feeling very marginalized and that their historic aboriginal role in the U.S. as the first Americans isn't always recognized,” Gonzales said.
What’s more, Native populations in Tucson or near the border are often identified or coded as being Latino, she said.
“And so you have Native people that are being asked for their identification, the assumption being that they don't have identification, that somehow they're illegal aliens.”
Being involved and belonging
One takeaway from the study is that developing an internal social and political identity that conflicts with external messages can be a challenge — and that making everyone feel that they’re American can impact political participation.
“It has always been about a sense of belonging,” Flores-Gonzalez said. “It's important for people to feel that they belong to the nation so that they can be part of it — they can work toward the same goals and that they are included. It's part of nation-building, right?”
Though the study is still ongoing, researchers have already found some positive results.
“At the survey level, looking at all young adults throughout the state, we saw a strong commitment to being involved,” said Martin, an associate professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. “Especially through voting.”
Martin said that the study provided a better understanding of the “rising generation.”
“It's kind of a glimpse into the political future,” Martin said. "Young voters today will be the majority of the electorate. So it gives us a sense of where the political tides may turn.”
He believes the results of the study can inform both political campaigns and educators.
“It is helpful for folks like me, who are higher education teachers, to be able to know more about those that we're trying to serve,” Martin said. “There are a lot of benefits of research like this. It will provide understanding and insight and spark new ideas among a lot of folks on the ground trying to work towards political change or make sense of a rapidly changing political world.”
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